^ 


BLESSED    SAINT   CERTAINTY. 


all  ...  looking  steatofastlg  on  fjhn,  eafo 
(us  face  aa  it  fjato  teen  t^e  face  of  an  angel. 

"But  fje  .  .  •  lookrtJ  up  Bteatofastlg  into  fjeaben 
.  .  .  anti  saitJ,  Bcijolti,  I  0ee  .  .  ." 


BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY.- 


a  g>torj>. 


BY  THE  AUTHOR  OF 


PS 

A 

Si 


"  His  MAJESTY,  MYSELF,"    "  COLONEL  DUNWODDIE, 
MILLIONAIRE,"  &c. 


/  J 

V>  /    yC 


BOSTON: 

ROBERTS     BROTHERS. 
1881. 


Copyright,  1881, 
BY  ROBERTS  BROTHERS. 


UNIVERSITY  PRESS  : 
JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,   CAMBRIDGE. 


TO 

fHg  ISltJESt  Born, 

MORE    TO    ME    THAN    A    SON, 

MY  COMPANION   ALSO,   AND    MY  INTIMATE   FRIEND, 
THIS    BOOK    IS    DEDICATED. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  GERALD  URWOLDT 7 

II.  BLACKBERRY  EYES,  AND  WHAT  FOLLOWED    .    .  16 

III.  IN  COLLEGE 28 

IV.  TUB  BIG  MEETINGS 43 

V.  A  STRUGGLE 51 

VI.  PERSIS  PAIGE 65 

VII.  NEW  INFLUENCES     ..........  74 

VIII.  RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP 85 

IX.  ONLY  Two  GIRLS 101 

X.  THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER, 113 

XI.  LESSONS  IN  LIFE 127 

XII.  ONE  OF  THE  CERTAINTIES 144 

XIII.  UPTURNING 157 

XIV.  FINALITIES 167 

XV.  A  DECISION -  ....  174 

XVI.  EXPLANATORY 185 

XVII.  NEW-COMERS 193 

XVIII.  WAR 206 

XIX.  GROWTH 223 

XX.  A  VISITOR 236 

XXI.  NOT  YET  249 


6  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAOE 

XXII.  PICNIC 262 

XXIII.  A  LITTLE  VISIT 2SO 

XXIV.  A  RIDE  INTO  THE  COUNTRY 292 

XXV.  RIVALS 314 

XXVI.  THE  WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN 327 

XXVII.  EXTEMPORE 340 

XXVIII.  CHRISTMAS 352 

XXIX.  A  SOCRATIC  SOIREE 366 

XXX.  Ross  AND  PERSIS 382 

XXXI.  OCKLAWAHAW   AGAIN 394 

XXXII.  SOLUTION 411 

XXXIII.  CERTAINTY  ITSELF 427 

XXXIV.  ASSURANCE  .                                                 ,  438 


BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GERALD  URWOLDT. 

ONE  bright  September  afternoon,  many  years  ago, 
the  people  of  Ocklawahaw  were  aroused  out 
of  their  habitual  indolence  by  the  arrival  of  the 
most  distinguished  visitor  they  had  ever  received. 
When  I  say  that  this  was  the  finest  horse  they  had 
so  far  seen,  I  must  explain  myself  by  saying  that 
Ocklawahaw  was  the  only  trading-post  of  an  Indian 
Reservation  in  the  West.  It  was  built  along  the 
crumbling  edge  of  a  bluff  overhanging  a  great  river, 
which  toiled  slowly  past,  so  heavily  weighted  was  it 
with  red  soil  from  the  regions  through  which  it 
flowed.  The  town  consisted  of  many  score  of  log  cab 
ins  scattered  about  like  dice,  with  a  frame  house  upon 
the  highest  points  here  and  there, — -'some  of  them 
painted  red,  with  green  shutters,  —  in  which  lived  the 
leading  men.  There  was  a  blacksmith-shop,  a  wagon- 
maker,  a  saddle-maker  or  two ;  but  the  most  frequented 
buildings  were  an  overgrown  warehouse,  and  a  four 
fold  log  cabin  nearly  opposite,  which  served  as  a  tav 
ern.  The  first -named  structure  was  the  wonder  of 


8  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

the  Keservation  by  reason  of  its  size.  Although  built 
of  frame-work  and  weather-boarded,  it  had  never 
known  the  painter's  brush.  Two  stories  high,  and  broad 
in  proportion,  its  size  was  glory  enough.  Of  a  dark 
brown,  after  years  of  sun  and  storm,  the  autumnal 
ripeness  of  the  husk  told  of  the  richness  of  its  con 
tents,  which  were  pork,  meal,  flour,  ammunition, 
blankets,  tobacco,  tin-ware,  domestics,  calicoes,  mo 
lasses,  and  whiskey.  But  a  portion  of  the  popula 
tion  were  Indian,  or  even  half-breeds.  Negroes,  at 
that  time  slaves,  and  white  men  through  all  varieties 
of  traders,  horse-jockeys,  speculators  in  land,  small 
farmers,  loafers  driven  thither  by  stress  of  law  else 
where,  gamblers,  trappers,  desperadoes  generally,  made 
up  the  inhabitants. 

The  town  stood  in  what  had  been  a  dense  forest. 
Barely  enough  of  this  had  been  cut  down  to  allow 
of  the  erection  of  the  houses ;  and  the  ways  wind 
ing  between  the  houses  and  dotted  with  stumps 
could  hardly  be  styled  streets,  so  thick  were  they  still 
with  enormous  trees,  which  strove  to  comfort  them 
selves  for  the  absence  of  their  slain  by  brooding  so 
much  the  more  closely,  as  with  verdurous  wings, 
over  the  homes  now  nestling  beneath  them.  The 
forest  surrounded  the  town,  slowly  giving  way  upon 
the  northwestern  side  to  prairies,  which  stretched 
hundreds  of  miles  away  to  the  mountains.  It  was 
in  these  open  spaces  nearest  the  settlement  that  the 
farms  of  cotton  and  com  were  cultivated.  In  the 
boundless  grass  beyond  these  the  cattle  and  horses 
belonging  to  Ocklawahaw  were  almost  as  much  lost  as 


GERALD   URWOLDT.  9 

the  fish  in  the  sea.  Every  spring  the  owners  of  the 
stock,  mounted  upon  mustangs,  scoured  the  plains, 
sweeping  before  them  toward  an  appointed  centre 
everything  which  wore  horns  or  hoofs.  There  the 
living  net  was  drawn  closely  about  the  wild  and 
frantic  creatures,  until,  the  calves  and  colts  duly 
branded,  the  struggling  mass  was  let  go  again  for 
another  year  into  the  freedom  of  nature.  The  process 
was  repeated,  at  points  of  convergence  twenty  miles 
apart,  over  the  immense  expanse  so  long  as  colt  or 
calf  remained  unbranded,  and  then  the  wild  riders 
subsided  for  another  twelve  months  into  their  normal 
laziness. 

For  hundreds  of  miles  above  and  below  the  village 
the  river  rolled  its  floods  of  liquid  mire  through  a 
dense  forest  of  trees,  elm  and  cotton- wood,  pecan  and 
live-oak,  bearded  from  their  topmost  twigs  to  the 
earth  with  hanging  masses  of  gray  moss.  The  ground 
was  covered  with  centuries  of  decaying  leaves  and 
rotting  limbs,  while  the  whole  forest  was  woven  as 
into  one  immeasurable  cobweb  by  the  grape-vines 
crossing  from  tree  to  tree  like  the  threads  of  gigantic 
and  antediluvian  spiders.  The  village  mourned  more 
than  one  adventurous  hunter  who  wandered  into  the 
gloomy  woods  never  to  return.  To  such  perishing  of 
cold  and  hunger,  with  eyes  becoming  dim  in  death, 
the  vines  must  have  seemed,  instead,  like  living  things, 
like  prehistoric  serpents  winding  themselves  about  the 
blackened  trunks,  forcing  their  way  through  foliage 
and  moss  to  the  tallest  tops,  leaping  from  bough  to 
bough,  knotted  together  in  deadly  wrestle  in  the  spaces 


10  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

between.  There  was  something  horrible  to  any  one 
in  the  way  in  which  the  anaconda-like  vines  seized 
upon  and  coiled  themselves  about  each  other  until 
they  sank  into  the  flesh  and  crushed  the  bones  each 
of  the  other  in  their  deadly  strife.  • 

And  yet  through  the  slumber  of  the  forest,  too  deep 
to  be  awakened  by  the  winds,  there  flickered,  like  fool 
ish  dreams,  the  finer  life  of  birds  and  squirrels,  —  a  life 
flavored  with  wickedness  in  the  innumerable  snakes, 
with  a  relish  even  of  merriment  in  scolding  catbirds 
and  shrill  lizards,  to  say  nothing  of  the  conscious 
hypocrisy  of  raccoon  and  opossum  slinking  by,  and  of 
the  chancellor-like  gravity  of  owls  enshrined  as  with 
spectacles  and  wig  in  the  judicial  seclusion  of  hollow 
trees.  It  was  only  upon  the  edge  of  the  woods  near 
the  village  that  life  emerged  into  self-consciousness  in 
the  children  chattering  together,  laughing,  fighting, 
swimming  in  the  river,  climbing  the  trees,  swinging 
upon  the  vines,  dashing  about  on  colts  whose  manes 
and  tails  were  tangled  with  cockle-burs. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  warehouse  store  was  the 
log  tavern,  in  front  of  which  a  mongrel  crowd  was 
assembled,  as  usual,  on  the  afternoon  of  which  I  am 
speaking,  —  not  a  man  of  them  without  his  rifle  and 
revolver.  When  the  horse  already  mentioned  came 
in  sight  along  the  road  leading  from  the  east,  the 
laziest  there  arose  to  his  feet,  the  most  drunken  became 
interested.  It  was  not  that  hoises  were  scarce, — 
no  man  there  so  poor  as  not  to  own  a  score  or  so ;  but 
these  were  of  Spanish  stock,  scrubby  mustangs  merely. 
As  the  beautifully  formed  and  spirited  steed  halted 


GERALD    URWOLDT.  11 

at  the  porch  of  the  tavern,  the  crowd  drew  about  it 
in  almost  speechless  admiration.  Here,  at  length, 
was  a  horse,  —  the  horse  of  their  dreams  !  The  most 
imaginative  among  them  had  never  lied,  during  a 
trade,  in  reference  to  his  best  animal  to  this  extent. 
With  the  precision  of  a  church  choir  the  words  broke 
in  the  same  breath  from  every  lip,  "  Morgan  stock ! " 
What  with  equal  unanimity  they  thought,  but  did 
not  say,  was,  "  Worth  a  thousing  dollars,  by  jingo ! " 
But  it  was  only  the  most  desperate  among  them  who 
said  to  themselves  as  they  thronged  about  it,  "  If  this 
animal  is  to  be  had,  foul  or  fair,  I  'm  bound  to  have 
it ! "  although  the  theology  with  which  this  resolve 
was  sealed  mentally  was  of  another  phrase  than 
Amen. 

When  the  crowd  came  to  lift  their  eyes  at  last  to  the 
rider,  they  saw  that  he  was  an  uncommonly  good-look 
ing  young  fellow  of  about  twenty-four  years  of  age, — 
a  profusion  of  long  and  flaxen  hair  flowing  about  his 
neck  from  under  the  rim  of  his  broad-brimmed  felt 
hat.  Whoever  and  whatever  the  stranger  might  him 
self  prove  to  be,  his  steed  had  already  established  his 
rank  in  society;  but  his  open  face,  broad  shoulders, 
vigorous  arms,  unhesitating  voice  and  manner,  con 
firmed  him  in  possession  of  the  title  of  Captain, — 
Captain  Urwoldt  it  proved  to  be, — which  was  be 
stowed  upon  him  on  the  spot.  Nor  did  he  refuse  to 
take  a  drink,  when,  having  dismounted  and  tied  his 
horse  to  a  post,  he  stood  upon  the  porch  of  the  tav 
ern.  As  the  first  step  toward  cheating  him  out  of 
his  steed,  a  man  in  the  crowd  asked  him  to  do  so, 


12  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

and  he  went  for  the  purpose  with  the  one  who  in 
vited  him  into  the  house.  But  the  supreme  excel 
lence  of  the  horse  was  too  great  for  the  self-control 
of  a  villanous-looking  rascal  hanging  about  the  steps 
of  the  porch. 

"  Doggon  it,  how  grand  we  are ! "  he  exclaimed,  as 
the  new-comer  went  in ;  and  there  was  the  ready 
laughter  which  awaited  whatever  attempt  at  a  joke 
anybody  might  risk.  On  the  instant  the  one  aimed 
at  turned,  came  out  again,  walked  up  to  the  envious 
gentleman,  remarked,  "  Are  you  the  chap  who  said 
it  ? "  and  slapped  him  full  in  the  face.  Having  done 
which,  the  stranger  stood  ready,  revolver  in  hand,  for 
whatever  might  follow.  For  an  impressive  moment 
there  was  the  silence  and  paralysis  of  utter  astonish 
ment,  giving  place  to  a  laugh  which  arose  at  last 
into  a  general  roar  of  amusement.  Under  any  other 
circumstances  the  one  struck  would  have  replied  with 
a  shot ;  but,  glancing  with  amazement  at  the  comely 
and  determined  face  of  the  stranger,  the  man  yielded 
to  the  popular  current,  and  joined  in  the  laughter 
louder  than  any.  As  he  did  so,  he  grasped  and  shook 
with  affection  and  respect  the  hand  which  smote  him. 
In  a  few  seconds  thereafter  the  crowd  were  drinking 
at  the  bar  upon  invitation  of  the  new-comer,  every 
one  assenting  with  many  an  oath  to  the  universal 
affirmation  that  the  owner  of  the  horse  was  "some," 
and  that  "he  will  do!" 

In  the  end  it  was  discovered  that  the  new  arrival 
was  a  little  better  armed  than  most  men,  was  shrewder 
at  a  horse-trade  than  the  best,  could  drink  as  deeply, 


GERALD    URWOLDT.  13 

shuffle  cards  as  deftly,  as  any.  In  a  word,  it  was  not 
a  month  before  it  was  agreed  by  all  that,  unpar 
alleled  as  the  stranger's  animal  was,  it  was  but  in 
keeping  with  the  qualities  of  the  owner  himself. 

When  Captain  Urwoldt  arrived  in  the  village  he  had 
no  definite  intention  of  staying  there.  He  was  merely 
"prospecting"  with  view  to  any  locality  wherein  he 
could  do  best  for  himself,  and  in  any  way,  he  cared 
little  what.  During  the  first  week  of  his  sojourn  he 
learned  that  the  headman  of  the  Eeservation  was 
rich  in  lands,  in  cattle,  in  cash.  He  ascertained, 
on  inquiry,  that  this  headman  was  already  an  old 
man,  and  that  he  had  but  one  child,  a  daughter,  who 
would  come,  at  his  death,  into  possession  of  everything. 
Not  knowing  of  any  better  opening  in  the  regions 
beyond,  Captain  Urwoldt  slowly  made  up  his  mind  to 
remain.  He  had  not  as  yet  seen  either  the  head 
man  or  his  daughter,  but  his  plans  were  extremely 
simple ;  he  would  ingratiate  himself  with  the  father 
and  marry  the  daughter. 

Concerning  this  adventurer  I  propose  to  say  as  little 
as  I  can.  It  may  be  added  therefore,  as  briefly  as  may 
be,  that  he  entered  upon  his  schemes  by  selling  his 
horse  to  the  headman  for  half  of  what  he  would  have 
demanded  of  any  other  person.  Next,  he  secured  a 
clerkship  in  the  one  store  in  Ocklawahaw,  and  toiled 
thereat  soberly  and  steadily  until  he  came  into  the 
complete  control  thereof.  When  business,  as  the  time 
went  by,  was  dull,  he  put  up  a  sign  to  that  effect,  and 
took  daguerreotypes,  —  the  first  artist  of  the  kind  in 
Ocklawahaw.  He  did  not  suffer  it  to  interrupt  his 


14  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

regular  business  of  trading  in  pork  and  calico,  mm, 
molasses,  and  ammunition,  cattle  and  lands,  and 
charged  such  prices  for  everything  that  it  soon  be 
came  evident  to  everybody  in  the  Reservation  that 
"the  Captain  was  bound  to  be  rich  some  time,  you 
bet." 

One  day,  leaving  his  business  in  competent  hands, 
he  disappeared  from  Ocklawahaw,  but  it  was  only  to 
come  back  again,  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  months, 
from  a  hunting  excursion  upon  the  prairies  and  moun 
tains  beyond.  A  train  of  pack-horses  accompanied 
him,  laden  with  venison,  buffalo  skins,  and  the  ant- 
lered  heads  of  the  bucks  he  had  killed  while  away. 
But  he  was  more  than  hunter  and  daguerreotypist,  for 
during  his  absence  he  had  made  sketches  on  plain 
and  mountain-side.  Fitting  up  the  loft  over  his  store 
for  the  purpose,  he  stretched  his  canvas  there,  and,  in 
the  intervals  of  more  lucrative  business,  devoted  him 
self  to  painting.  "When  he  was  ready  for  it,  the  cu 
rious  public  were  admitted  to  behold  the  results  at  so 
much  a  head.  Not  an  Indian  or  half-breed,  not  a 
white  hunter  or  trapper  coming  in  with  pelts,  not  a 
mechanic  supplied  by  the  government  or  a  speculator 
in  horses  or  mines  in  all  that  region,  but,  sooner 
or  later,  visited  the  pictures,  and  spread  the  fame 
thereof  far  and  wide.  For  years  these  works  of  art 
were  the  wonder  of  the  whole  country,  and  not  merely 
because  they  were  the  first  known  to  men  in  that  re 
gion  ;  for  an  amateur  they  were  excellent,  and  it  was 
but  proper  that  the  Captain  should  become,  as  he  did, 
Major  Urwoldt  in  consequence  thereof.  It  somewhat 


GERALD   URWOLDT.  15 

perplexed  the  simple-minded  people  when  they  saw 
a  man  so  gifted  harder  at  work  than  any  of  them,  in 
his  store  and  along  the  street,  making  money  in  every 
manner  possible.  "  The  Major,"  they  observed,  "  is  a 
genius,"  and  they  were  right. 

But,  as  has  been  intimated,  it  is  not  with  him  I 
have  to  do  in  these  pages ;  not  more  at  least  than  is 
essential  to  my  story.  There  is  mystery  in  the  way 
in  which  the  rose  and  the  lily,  the  peach  and  the 
apple,  draw  from  the  same  soil,  growing  side  by  side, 
each  its  own  peculiarity  of  juice  or  color,  of  fragrance, 
form,  and  use.  So  with  what  is  to  follow.  The  Ees- 
ervation  was  but  the  field,  the  people  of  whom  I  have 
spoken  but  as  the  clods  thereof,  out  of  which  sprang 
the  persons  with  whom  we  have  our  concern  in  what 
comes  after. 


16  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  II. 

BLACKBERRY  EYES,  AND  WHAT   FOLLOWED. 

WHEN"  Gerald  Urwoldt  first  came  to  the  Indian 
Reservation  he  found  it  under  the  rule  of  a 
headman,  or  chief,  whom  the  Indians  spoke  of  in  their 
language  as  Mogga-thirvan,  or  Thunder-tongue,  but 
who  was  known  by  the  whites  as  John  Ross,  by  which 
name  he  himself  preferred  to  be  called.  He  was  a 
very  tall  and  spare  man,  over  sixty,  the  only  son  of  a 
Scotch  trader  who,  for  prudential  reasons,  had  married 
the  daughter  of  the  then  chief  of  the  nation ;  and  in 
John  Ross  the  Indian  and  Scotch  peculiarities  blended, 
and  mutually  confirmed  and  ratified  each  other.  Wary 
and  silent,  thrifty,  economical,  and  unrelenting,  Ross 
was  possessed  of  absolute  control  of  his  savage  people 
when  the  treaty  was  made  with  the  government,  in 
virtue  of  which  they  were  settled  upon  their  Res 
ervation.  How  he  managed  it  no  one  knew,  but,  as 
one  result  of  the  transfer  of  the  tribe  from  barbarism 
to  semi-civilization,  their  chief  had  made  himself  rich, 
retaining  all  the  more  his  influence  over  his  people 
and  the  unbounded  confidence  of  the  government. 
He  was,  in  fact,  a  natural-born  diplomat,  and  might 
have  made  himself  a  Talleyrand  and  a  Rothschild  in 
one,  had  his  been  a  European  area  instead. 


BLACKBERRY  EYES.  17 

When  young  Urwoldt  rode  into  Ocklawahaw  upon 
his  fine  horse,  John  Ross  was  a  dry  old  man,  wrin 
kled,  exceedingly  tough,  and  devoted  to  the  man- 
a^ement  of  his  horses  and  cattle,  and  an  almost 

O  * 

unceasing  use  of  a  stone  pipe,  with  an  unsleeping  vig 
ilance  toward  all  new-comers.  It  was  rumored  that 
in  his  earlier  days  he  had  been  the  most  cruel  of  sav 
ages,  sparing  neither  color,  age,  nor  sex.  However 
that  may  be,  he  was  peaceful  enough  now,  did  not 
touch  whiskey,  and,  except  for  his  property  and 
his  pipe,  cared  only  for  the  child  of  his  age.  This 
was  a  little  girl  when  Urwoldt  arrived,  and  she  was 
-  known  in  the  village  as  Mitchabuna,  or  Blackberry 
Eyes.  Her  mother  had  been  a  half-blood  Indian, 
who  died  when  Mitchabuna  was  an  infant ;  and  the 
brown-cheeked  little  thing  would  have  died  also,  or, 
worse,  would  have  relapsed  as  she  grew  up  into  the 
original  barbarism  of  her  kin,  if  it  had  not  been  for 
one  thing. 

Long  before  the  girl  was  born,  with  the  first  settle 
ment,  in  fact,  of  the  Reservation,  there  had  come 
to  Ocklawahaw  a  young  missionary  who  labored  faith 
fully  in  the  teeth  of  the  native  savagery  of  the  people, 
and  against  the  sort  of  civilization,  worse  still,  with 
which  the  nation  began  its  career  as  a  ward  of  the 
government.  After  long  and  almost  desperate  efforts, 
the  youthful  apostle,  Williams  by  name,  disappeared 
from  the  village,  apparently  in  utter  defeat  and  dis 
gust.  But  they  knew  little  of  the  man  who  thought 
thus.  He  had  only  fallen  back  for  a  breathing  space 
upon  the  New  England  Society  which  had  sent  him, 

2 


18  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

and  in  a  few  months  he  was  back  again,  reinforced  by 
a  wife  out  of  a  Female  Institute  there,  more  zealous, 
if  possible,  than  himself.  The  well-mated  pair  went 
to  work  with  zeal.  Early  of  a  Sunday  morning  the 
husband  would  make  his  rounds  among  the  tents  and 
cabins,  persuading  and  urging  the  heathen  inhabitants 
to  attend  meeting  at  his  cabin ;  and  then,  his  wife 
leading  in  the  singing  with  a  subduing  force  therein, 
unknown  hitherto  among  the  children  of  the  forest,  he 
would  preach  to  them  in  their  own  language.  Dur 
ing  the  week  the  husband  and  wife  taught  school  to 
old  and  young,  male  and  female,  gently  and  untir 
ingly  herding  them  from  the  utmost  skirts  of  the 
town  into  their  own  doors  for  the  purpose,  very  much 
as  partridges  are  driven  into  a  net. 

Almost  from  her  birth  little  Mitcbabuna  had  been 
brought  into  the  school.  Parson  Williams  was  not 
young  when  the  black-eyed  child  first  came  under  his 
care,  and,  as  the  years  of  toil  and  privation  passed  by, 
he  became  an  old  and  worn  man.  If  Christianity 
ever  clothed  itself  in  Kentucky  jeans  and  yellow 
brogans,  ever  crowned  itself  with  an  old  wrool  hat, 
and  looked  with  pitying  eyes  upon  the  world  through 
brass-rimmed  spectacles,  it  was  in  this  instance.  The 
missionary  had  settled  in  Ocklawahaw  to  advance 
civilization,  too  ;  but,  as  the  years  elapsed,  the  civili 
zation  was,  in  a  sense,  forgotten  by  Parson  Williams, 
and  only  the  more  durable  Christianity  remained, 
As  he  adjusted  himself  more  and  more  to  Indian 
ways,  the  usages  of  a  former  life  were  laid  aside,  and 
then  forgotten.  Not  even  John  Eoss  could  speak  the 


BLACKBERRY  EYES.  19 

Indian  language  as  well  as  the  old  missionary,  al 
though  his  English  became  almost  obsolete  to  him, 
became  ungrammatical,  somewhat  coarse,  and  not  free 
from  phrases,  when  he  did  speak  it,  which  astonished 
people  not  used  to  life  on  the  Eeservation.  Very 
rarely  indeed,  and  only  by  compulsion  of  his  superiors 
eastward,  did  the  old  man  show  himself  at  their  con 
ferences.  At  such  times  he  was  as  a  John  the  Bap 
tist  among  them,  in  his  coarse  garb,  rough  visage, 
queer  isolation  from  even  the  best  of  them.  When 
constrained  to  take  part  on  Sundays  and  in  prayer- 
meetings,  it  was  as  if  a  John  indeed  had  suddenly  ar 
rived  from  Judaea  and  the  days  of  Christ ;  and  there 
was  that  in  what  he  said  in  his  laconic  fashion  which 
sent  secret  thrills  of  alarm  for  himself  through  pol 
ished  pastor  and  distinguished  divine,  even  while  it 
filled  their  eyes  with  tears.  But  the  old  man  was 
always  in  a  hurry  to  get  away  again  to  his  Indians 
who  had  come  to  revere  him  profoundly  even  when 
they  hearkened  to  him  least. 

To  Mitchabuna  the  missionary  and  his  wife  were 
more  than  parents,  for  they  had  but  one  child  of  their 
own,  a  girl,  Persis  by  name,  a  few  years  Bolder  than 
the  daughter  of  the  headman. 

"  What  ails  you,  Blackberry  Eyes  ? "  Parson  Wil 
liams  demanded  of  the  girl  one  morning,  when  she 
was  about  twelve  years  old,  for  she  had  come  to 
school  with  an  unusual  color  in  her  brown  cheeks, 
her  eyes  dancing  with  excitement. 

"  It  is  nothing,"  she  answered  in  the  same  Indian 
tongue,  and  entered  upon  her  studies  with  sober 
demeanor. 


20  BLESSED  SAIXT  CERTAINTY. 

But  it  was  something,  none  the  less.  Young  Ur- 
woldt  had  ridden  into  Ocklawahaw  upon  his  remark 
able  horse  a  few  days  before,  and,  for  the  first  time, 
the  two  had  passed  each  other  under  the  live-oaks. 
It  was  an  eventful  occurrence.  Mitchabuna  regarded 
him  as  the  handsomest  man  she  had  ever  seen. 
Having  already  resolved  to  marry  her,  it  made  small 
difference  to  the  adventurer  how  she  looked ;  but  he 
congratulated  himself  upon  the  fact  that  his  predes 
tined  wife  was  both  fairer  of  complexion  and  prettier 
than  he  had  hoped. 

"They  say  that  this  region  is  cursed  with  chills 
and  fever,"  he  said  to  himself  that  night.  "  But 
the  ague  has  not  touched  her,  that  is  clear.  If  she 
can  stand  it  and  look  so  well,  I  can.  So  here  goes ! 
I  might  as  well  try  my  luck  here  as  anywhere  else." 

It  was  necessary  that  the  fortune-seeker  should  be 
as  wary  as  possible,  and  one  of  his  many  and  diverse 
gifts  was  the  possession  of  a  cool  caution  which  can 
work  and  wait.  Keeping  his  own  counsel,  he  seemed 
for  the  present  not  to  know  of  her  existence. 

And  yet,  and  from  the  first,  the  Indian  girl  had 
full  assurance  that  the  new-comer  thought  vastly 
more  of  her  than  either  he  or  she  allowed  any  other 
person  to  suspect.  So  far  she  had  been  more  than 
contented  with  her  moccasins  and  buckskin  skirts 
and  leggings,  her  beaded  belt  and  cap,  adorned  with 
her  own  embroidery,  and  feathers  dyed  red  by  her 
own  hand ;  now  she  affected  calico  instead,  and  a 
sun-bonnet.  Heretofore  she  had  hardly  done  more 
than  to  glance  at  herself  in  her  little  looking-glass  of 


BLACKBERRY  EYES.  21 

mornings  before  going  to  school;  now  she  began 
gravely  to  study  in  it  her  complexion  of  pomegranate 
brown  and  crimson,  her  white  teeth,  her  red  lips.  It 
was  only  when  she  felt  sure  that  the  handsome  white 
was  nowhere  near,  that  she  laughed  as  loudly  as  she 
pleased,  shot  with  bow  and  rifle,  climbed  trees  as  she 
had  always  done,  swam  in  the  river,  caught  and  rode 
at  a  gallop  the  uncurried,  unshod  mustangs,  dispens 
ing  with  saddle  or  blanket,  her  black  hair  flying  upon 
the  wind.  Where  it  was  possible  for  Captain,  and 
then  Major,  Urwoldt  to  see  her,  no  Eastern  maiden 
could  have  obeyed  the  manifold  admonitions  of  Parson 
Williams  and  his  wife  more  faithfully  than  she.  As 
she  grew  older  she  would  flush  with  shame,  almost 
rage,  at  the  shade  of  copper  in  her  cheeks,  for 
fear  that  he  might  not  like  it.  Poor  child !  It  was 
little  he  cared,  so  that  he  saw  in  her  the  hue  of  her 
father's  gold.  He  was  a  singular  compound  of  miser 
and  artist,  of  poet  and  money-maker,  and  took  his  own 
stealthy  steps  to  carry  out  his  deeply  considered  plans. 

But  old  John  Eoss  was  as  sharp-sighted  in  reference 
to  his  property,  and  in  regard  to  his  daughter  the 
heiress  thereof,  as  he  had  ever  been  when,  in  other 
days,  deer  or  bears,  a  lurking  foe  or  a  possible  bar 
gain,  was  concerned,  and  one  fine  morning  Mitchabuna 
vanished  from  the  village. 

Major  Urwoldt  was  not  long  in  learning  why. 
From  her  earliest  childhood  Parson  Williams  and  his 
wife  had  so  carefully  instructed  the  girl  that,  when 
she  was  over  fifteen  years  of  age,  they  agreed  that  she 
was  prepared  for  something  beyond  their  own  teach- 


22  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

ing.  For  some  time  now  they  had  been  urging  upon 
John  Ross  to  give  his  daughter  an  education  worthy 
her  vigor  of  character  and  future  possessions,  that  she 
might  become  a  teacher  and  benefactress  to  her  people. 
It  so  chanced  that  the  missionary  and  his  wife  were 
going  East,  for  the  first  time  in  years,  and  they  could 
place  Mitchabuna  in  the  institution  which  had  edu 
cated  Mrs.  Williams.  And  so  Mitchabuna  was  sent 
away.  It  made  no  difference,  so  far  as  any  one  could 
see,  to  the  energetic  Major.  He  inaugurated  only 
a  more  systematic  making  of  money  at  the  store. 
When  summer  came  he  went  off  on  a  hunt,  return 
ing  with  new  pictures,  loads  of  meat,  stacks  of  skins. 
Indeed,  he  seemed  to  be  the  soberest  and  steadiest 
of  men ;  apparently  he  cared  not  for  anything  beyond 
his  merchandise  and  his  pictures ;  but  who  could  tell 
what  so  determined  and  exceptional  a  man  might  do 
some  day  ? 

The  months,  the  years,  rolled  by.  Major  Urwoldt 
had  imperceptibly  become  Colonel  Urwoldt  instead. 
He  raised  cattle  these  days,  bought  and  sold  horses, 
came  into  possession  of  large  tracts  of  land.  It  was 
rumored  that  he  had  discovered  valuable  mines  during 
one  of  his  hunting  and  artistic  excursions,  and  had  pre 
empted  or  bought  the  whole  region  somewhere  among 
the  mountains.  With  the  consent  of  John  Eoss,  and 
to  the  enthusiastic  delight  of  Parson  Williams,  he  had 
erected  an  academy  of  higher  instruction  in  Ockla- 
wahaw,  himself  subscribing  liberally  and  draughting 
the  plans.  As  a  Christmas  gift,  he  presented  the 
good  missionary  with  plans,  specifications,  and  eleva- 


BLACKBERRY  EYES.  23 

tions,  beautifully  drawn,  of  a  new  church  with  par 
sonage  attached,  and  assured  him  that  the  buildings 
should  be  erected  in  the  next  two  years.  He  set  up 
also  a  small  weekly,  the  "Ocklawahaw  Scout,"  edit 
ing  and  supplying  it  with  poetry  from  his  own  hand, 
and  copious  prose. 

During  all  these  years  he  had  managed  to  live  on 
good  terms  with  John  Eoss,  now  becoming  a  very  old 
man.  No  mention  of  the  absent  heiress  had  been 
made  by  either.  Colonel  Urwoldt  had  grown  to  be 
by  this  time  a  large,  heavily  bearded  man,  hand 
somer  than  ever,  peremptory  of  manner,  and  was 
reputed  to  be  almost  as  rich  as  the  headman  himself. 
Managing'  matters  with  steady  caution,  he  had  made 
himself  essential  to  old  Ross,  in  his  dealings  with  the 
government  on  the  one  hand,  and  his  own  people  on 
the  other. 

Meanwhile  Mitchabuna  was  receiving,  at  her  insti 
tute  in  the  East,  the  best  education  the  times  afforded. 
She  was  the  one  pupil  there  who  possessed  absolute 
health,  and  her  intellect  was  inferior  to  none ;  nor  was 
there  any  of  the  girls  who  had  quite  as  intense  a  de 
sire  to  improve.  Her  teachers  flattered  themselves 
that  it  was  because  she  proposed  to  devote  herself, 
upon  her  return,  to  the  welfare  of  her  people.  They 
were  mistaken.  For  some  time  before  leaving  Ock 
lawahaw  there  had  been  a  singularly  clear  under 
standing  between  herself  and  Colonel  Urwoldt.  An 
active  but  clandestine  correspondence  was  kept  up 
ever  since,  and  her  marriage  with  him  was  the  first 
event  after  her  coming  back,  with  the  full  consent 


24  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

of  her  father,  who  died  soon  after,  leaving  his  son-in- 
law  in  full  possession  of  his  position  and  property. 

The  handsome  adventurer  was  now  General  Ur- 
woldt.  There  was  no  longer  any  need  of  a  mask,  and 
he  revenged  himself  for  the  past  by  asserting  himself. 
Portly,  prosperous,  positive,  a  marvel  of  energy  and 
skill  in  money-making,  he  now  added  hard  drink 
ing  to  the  list  of  his  accomplishments.  The  Indians 
he  openly  despised,  and  dealt  with  accordingly,  gam 
bling  and  indulging  in  horse-racing  as  the  humor 
seized  him. 

Meanwhile  child  after  child  was  born  to  him,  boys 
and  girls,  their  skins  fairer,  and  therefore  their  eyes 
blacker,  apparently,  than  those  of  their  mother.  Par 
son  Williams  lost  his  wife,  and  was  aided  in  his  work 
by  his  daughter  Persis,  until  she  married  a  stock- 
raiser,  who  broke  his  neck  one  day  while  riding  a 
vicious  mustang ;  and  the  young  widow  herself  died 
in  a  year,  leaving  behind  her  a  little  girl,  another 
Persis,  as  the  sole  companion  of  the  old  missionary. 

Then  came  the  small-pox,  ravaging  the  Reservation 
•with  frightful  fury ;  and  it  would  have  been  hard  to 
believe  that  Mitchabuna  was  as  highly  educated 
as  almost  any  lady  in  the  land,  had  you  seen  her 
during  its  desolations ;  with  her  dress  hanging  half 
off  her  shoulders,  her  black  hair  in  disorder  down  her 
back,  it  seemed  as  if,  in  attendance  upon  her  children, 
as  they  were  smitten  down  one  after  another,  she 
neither  ate  nor  slept  She  would  fall  asleep,  at  last, 
from  sheer  exhaustion  in  her  chair  as  she  sat  by  the 
bedside,  or  across  the  feet  of  a  child  dying  upon  it, 


BLACKBERRY  EYES.  25 

to  wake,  as  it  were,  a  moment  after,  her  hollow  eyes 
drier,  fiercer  than  before.  Week  after  week  she 
fought  for  her  children  with  death,  like  a  she-wolf 
for  her  whelps.  But,  now  a  boy,  then  a  girl,  they 
died,  and  it  was  all  the  old  missionary  could  do  to 
tear  their  bodies  from  her  for  burial.  Not  a  child  of 
those  who  died  but  breathed  its  last  upon  her  bosom, 
and  she  held  on  to  each  in  turn,  her  gaunt  arms 
locked  about  the  corpse,  her  lips  drawn,  when  any 
one  came  near,  so  as  to  show  her  white  teeth,  her 
eyes  tearless  and  glittering  with  silent  ferocity. 

The  soul  of  white-headed  Parson  "Williams  was 
stirred  within  him.  When  only  one  child  remained  to 
her,  little  Ross,  the  old  man  locked  the  door  upon  all 
beside,  and,  like  a  prophet  of  old,  denounced  her  for 
her  stubborn  rebellion.  Then  he  knelt,  and  prayed  for 
mother  and  child  as  never  before.  It  may  be  that  she 
was  fain  to  yield  from  pure  exhaustion.  Suddenly 
she  fell  upon  her  knees  beside  her  apparently  dying 
child,  and  surrendered  him,  her  last  lamb  consuming 
in  the  flames  of  fever,  a  sacrifice  to  God.  Then  she 
gave  way  to  weeping,  weeping  the  unshed  tears  of  so 
many  weeks,  weeping  as  if  she  would  never  cease  !  It 
was  like  the  rain  of  a  tropical  storm,  for,  when  she 
arose  at  last,  her  sky  was  as  clear  as  if  it  had  never 
known  a  cloud ;  she  was  even  bright  and  smiling. 

To  the  astonishment  of  all,  little  Ross  passed  the 
crisis  of  his  disease,  and,  first  slowly,  and  then  rap 
idly,  recovered.  The  pestilence  departed,  having  slain 
its  hundreds,  and  Mitchabuna  was  another  woman. 
Many  months  before,  she  had  given  her  husband  as 


26  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

serious  a  fright  as  lie  had  ever  experienced.  From 
the  hour  of  their  marriage  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  tease  her,  now  about  this  and  then  about  that, 
generally  about  her  Indian  blood,  in  the  wantonness 
of  his  peculiar  character.  One  day  she  was  seated 
so  submissively  before  him  at  her  sewing  while  he 
did  so,  that  he  ventured  upon  the  one  step  too  far. 
In  an  instant  she  stood  erect,  hot,  her  face  pale,  her 
eyes  so  terrible  to  see,  that,  although  she  said  nothing, 
he  recoiled  in  unfeigned  alarm,  nor  did  he  attempt  it 
again.  She  had  long  ago  come  to  see  that  he  had 
married  her  merely  for  what  she  brought  him,  that 
he  despised  her  race  and  herself.  He  had  fled  at  the 
approach  of  the  pestilence,  nor  did  he  return  until 
long  after  the  danger  was  over,  and  she  had  for  him 
a  contempt  beyond  anything  he  could  imagine.  Of 
his  licentious  life  she  had  long  known,  and  it  would 
have  been  eminently  unsafe  for  any  one  of  his  many 
mistresses  to  have  come  within  her  reach ;  but  out 
wardly,  at  least,  she  was  now  the  most  patient  and 
submissive  of  wives.  Now  she  had  but  one  pur 
pose  in  life,  and  that  was  to  care  for  and  train  and 
save,  if  she  could,  her  last  hope  in  the  world,  her  son 
Ross. 

I  write  what  follows  concerning  Ross  Urwoldt  and 
those  so  closely  associated  with  him  because  it  is  a 
narrative,  from  my  sincerest  observation  and  experi 
ence,  of  the  certainties  upon  which  rests  arid  rolls,  in 
whatever  direction,  the  life  of  every  one  of  us.  I 
am  to  speak  of  the  evil  that  Ross  derived  from  his 
father  and  others ;  for  there  are  certainties  as  inevita- 


BLACKBERRY  EYES.  27 

ble  and  as  dreadful  as  the  worst  things  in  nature,  — 
deep  valley,  roaring  torrent,  rocky  cliff,  malarious 
swamp.  But  there  are  blessed  certainties,  too,  and 
it  is  of  these  and  because  of  these  that  I  speak  at  all. 
Infinitely  more  inflexible  and  adamantine  than  the 
steel  rails  along  which  a  train  flies,  these  absolute 
and  unerring  certainties  span,  thank  God !  every  val 
ley  and  river  of  our  existence,  pierce  every  mountain 
range,  bear  us  high  and  safe  over  every  bog  and 
quicksand.  "Whatever  befell  my  friend  afterward,  let 
it  be  recorded  here,  that,  as  he  existed  at  all,  so  he 
continued  to  exist  now,  and  as  through  death  itself, 
in  virtue  of  this  certainty,  to  begin  with,  —  a  mother's 
love.  It  was  small  merit  in  him  then  ;  but  oh,  if  you 
and  I  could  not  merely  recognize  but  rest  upon  our 
every  certainty  until  the  last !  could  but  so  rest  as 
to  let  go  and  sleep  in  its  arms,  as  he  did  when  a 
babe  in  the  embrace  of  Mitchabuna  ! 


28  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER    III. 

IN   COLLEGE. 

A  S  the  years  rolled  by,  General  Urwoldt  left  his 
•*-  ^-  wife  arid  child  entirely  to  themselves,  and 
plunged  deeper  into  the  mire  of  a  money-making 
baser,  if  possible,  than  his  dissolute  courses.  For  as 
long  as  he  could  do  so,  Parson  Williams  assisted  the 
mother  in  the  education  of  her  boy.  obtaining  after 
that  a  tutor  named  Ainasa  Clarke,  from  the  East,  to 
aid  them  therein.  It  was  at  the  suggestion  of  the  old 
missionary  that  Ross  was  first  prepared,  as  he  grew, 
for  college,  and  then  sent  thither. 

In  due  time  he  came  on  to  Old  Orange,  the  college 
which  I  had  just  entered,  one  of  the  youngest  stu 
dents  there.  We  were  Freshmen  together,  and  it  was 
impossible  but  that  I  should  like  Ross  Urwoldt,  and 
from  the  first.  The  face  of  the  lad  was  only  dark 
enough  to  give  to  his  aspect  a  certain  sternness  and 
rigidity  of  purpose.  You  would  not  have  detected 
the  Indian  in  him  at  all,  unless  it  was  in  his  eyes. 
It  was  not  that  they  were  so  large,  so  black,  but  that 
they  had  a  steadiness  of  gaze,  accompanying  a  peculiar 
motionlessness  at  times  of  his  whole  frame,  as  of  one 
accustomed  to  watch,  and  for  hours  at  a  stretch,  and 
with  unwavering  ken,  the  least  movement  of  game  or 


'  IN  COLLEGE.  29 

enemy  far  away  across  the  prairie.  Added  to  this, 
there  was  an  erectness  of  bearing  which  was  as  much 
a  part  of  his  agility  as  the  antlered  head  of  a  stag 
thrown  back  upon  its  shoulders  is  part  of  its  flight  and 
speed,  —  the  result,  no  doubt,  of  a  species  of  health 
so  perfect  as  to  differ  in  kind,  not  degree  alone,  from 
that  of  those  of  us  who  spend  our  lives  in-doors. 
As  I  came,  at  college  and  afterward,  to  know  him 
better  every  day,  there  was  so  much  more  to  know 
and  to  like  that  I  do  not  intend  even  to^  begin  to 
describe  Ross  Urwoldt  yet.  Let  me  say  merely  this, 
that  he  had  more  of  what  I  am  constrained  to  style 
clear  force  than  any  other  person  I  have  met.  There 
was  a  single-hearted  straightforwardness  in  him, 
which  he  derived,  I  dare  say,  and  almost  from  in 
fancy,  from  sending  his  soul  with  arrow  or  rifle-ball, 
and  to  the  very  heart  of  squirrel  or  deer.  Like  the 
Greek  heroes,  he  had  enjoyed  a  training  as  under  the 
centaurs,  far  away  from  cities,  and  there  was  more  of 
the  Achilles  in  him,  heathenism  and  all,  than  I,  at 
least,  have  found  elsewhere. 

"  I  wonder  you  did  not  injure  your  health  by  hard 
study,"  I  said  to  him,  when  I  came  to  know  how 
thoroughly  he  had  been  fitted  for  college  before  he 
came. 

"  No,"  Ross  replied.  "  My  mother  was  too  much  on 
the  alert  for  that  also.  She  rides  with  me,  goes 
hunting  with  me,  and  has  done  so  ever  since  I 
can  remember.  I  hit  things  when  I  fired  at  them, 
but  my  mother "  —  and  his  eyes  grew  proud  as  he 
spoke  —  "is  a  better  shot  to-day  than  I  am,  with 


•30  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

bow  or  rifle.  I  wish  one  of  your  starchy  ladies  could 
see  her  ride  !  ",  He  laughed  aloud  as  he  said  it,  with 
pride  and  pleasure.  "  She  has  had  lots  of  children, 
but  if  you  could  see  her,"  he  added,  "  on  Maggie,  my 
mare,  out  on  the  prairie  beyond  the  farms,  and  where 
the  stock  grazes,  a  west-wind  blowing,  and  a  long- 
eared  rabbit  scudding  away  before  her  for  dear  life ! 
If  I  was  lying  badly  hurt  on  the  other  bank  of  the 
river,  could  your  mother  have  plunged  in,"  —  Ross 
violated  grammar  to  say  it,  —  "  and  swum  across,  the 
river  booming  too,  to  save  you,  sir  ?  Not  at  all ! " 
And  he  looked  at  me  defiantly.  "  But  I  did  not  in 
tend  to  speak  of  her,"  he  interrupted  himself.  "  What 
a  fellow  you  are,  Guernsey,  to  make  a  man  say 
things ! " 

I  must  have  set  him  to  thinking  of  his  home. 
That  week  he  said  to  me  when  we  chanced  to  meet 
on  the  campus,  "  What  do  you  know  of  nature  ? " 
for  I  had  called  his  attention  to  a  gorgeous  sunset 
which  was  consuming  the  clouds  beyond  West  Col 
lege.  "  You  climb  a  mountain  for  an  hour  once  in 
your  life.  In  hot  summers  you  stand  for  a  few  mo 
ments  upon  the  sea-shore,  look  out  upon  water  and 
sky,  and  say,  '  Oh  my  !  Is  n't  it  lovely  ? '  Guernsey," 
he  broke  out,  "  poets  are  people  who  do  more  than 
stand  apart  and  look  and  listen.  A  fellow  must  lose* 
and  forget  himself  in  things ;  he  must  fly  with  the 
birds,  blow  with  the  winds !  When  you  see  buffalo 
or  deer  grazing  upon  the  slopes,  you  must  have  in 
your  mouth  the  flavor  and  sweetness  of  their  mesquit 
grass.  Many  a  time  I  have  been  simply  another 


IN  COLLEGE.  31 

horse  out  on  the  prairie  with  the  one  I  rode.  If  you 
want  to  know  what  luxury  is,  lie  flat  upon  your  back 
on  the  ground,  hovering  with  the  eagle  that  rests  on 
its  wings  far  overhead,  moving  with  it  in  perfect 
poise,  now  a  little  to  one  side,  then  to  the  other  — 
But  what  nonsense  for  a  fellow  to  talk  that  way ! " 
he  interrupted  himself,  and  let  his  hands  fall  to  his 
side  ;  "  you  won't  understand  ! " 

"  Don't  I  ? "  I  asked,  for  he  seemed  half  ashamed 
of  saying  what  he  did.  "  Listen  and  I  will  tell  you 
something  about  yourself  you  have  not  thought  of. 
You  told  me  once  of  seeing  an  oak  struck  by  light 
ning.  The  lightning  did  not  flash  so  suddenly  then 
but  that  "you  had  time  to  leap  with  it.  What  is 
more,  and  worse,  when  it  struck  the  tree  you  struck 
and  splintered  it,  and  with  all  your  heart,  and  then 
laughed  to  see  how  you  had  made  the  bark  and  frag 
ments  fly !  Your  only  regret  was  that  it  was  not 
Amasa  Clarke." 

I  was  almost  sorry  I  had  said  it.  Eoss  gazed  steadily 
into  my  eyes  with  his  own,  which  were  so  black  and 
penetrating.  "  The  fellows  are  right,"  he  said  after  a 
while,  "in  what  they  told  me  about  you." 

"  What  do  they  say  ? "  I  asked,  pretending  to  be 
alarmed,  —  "  that  I  am  impertinent  ? " 

"  Oh,  no,  not  at  all."  Eoss  hastened  to  disclaim  it. 
"  But  you  know  already,  and  I  can't  flatter  a  man  to 
his  face.  You  ought  n't  to  go  into  men,  Guernsey,  as 
you  do  into  mathematics  and  the  languages.  As  to 
Amasa  Clarke  you  are  right.  I  did  n't  know  that  I 
had  told  you  so  ;  in  fact,  I  know  that  I  did  not,  but 


32  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

I  do  dislike  him.  But  you  are  wrong;  if  I  was  th< 
lightning,  I  would  n't  strike  a  weed  or  a  toad  ! "  And 
I  then  saw  how  heartily  Ross  detested  his  teacher. 

"Don?t  you  remember  telling  me — never  mind 
Clarke  —  about  your  bear- fight  in  the  canon,"  I  said, 
—  "  how  your  dogs  tore  at  him  from  behind  when  he 
tried  to  climb  the  pecan-tree,  and  how  he  would  whirl 
about  and  knock  their  heads  in  with  his  paws  ?  Now 
the  trouble  with  you,  Ross,  is  that  your  teeth  were  in 
Bruin's  fur  at  one  moment,  and  the  next  instant  you 
were  striking  at  the  dogs,  at  your  own  dogs  too,  with 
Bruin's  paws,  and  with  equal  zest.  You  throw  your 
self  so  heartily  into  things,  man,  that  you  give  your 
self  no  time  to  be  just,  no  time  to  take  the  right  side 
and  to  fight  only  with  and  for  it." 

"  Do  you  think  so  ?  That  is  what  they  call  Moral 
Philosophy,  is  n't  it  ? "  he  asked  with  disdain.  "  Well, 
I  have  n't  got  that  far  yet,  and  I  hope  I  never  may. 
You  are  morbid,  Guernsey.  What  do  you  and  I  care 
for  such  things  ? " 

Coming  from  the  Reservation,  everything  in  college 
was  new  to  Ross,  and  for  a  time  he  enjoyed  Old 
Orange  as  keenly  as  he  always  liked  or  disliked  any 
thing.  The  fact  that  his  father  was  headman  of  an 
Indian  nation,  and  his  own  striking  appearance  made 
our  class  rather  proud  of  him.  Moreover,  we  were 
curious  to  see  how  such  a  man  would  turn  out  as  a 
student.  Just  then  the  two  literary  societies  were 
contending  for  supremacy  as  fiercely  as  Rome  and 
Carthage  during  their  day,  and  the  one  I  concluded 
to  join  was  badly  disappointed  when  the  other  fellows 


IN  COLLEGE.  33 

contrived  to  secure  Eoss.  The  initiation  of  new 
members  was,  in  those  days,  a  serious  matter.  I  re 
member  how,  as  some  of  us  Freshmen  were  convoyed 
that  Friday  night  to  our  Hall,  we  heard  the  most  un 
earthly  uproar  proceeding  from  the  other.  There  were 
the  clanking  of  chains,  the  blowing  of  horns,  the  jing 
ling  of  bells,  accompanied  by  crashes  as  of  falling 
bodies,  followed  by  direful  groans.  The  novitiates  of 
the  rival  society  were  passing  painfully  through  their 
initiation,  and  we  trembled  for  ourselves. 

Of  our  own  experiences  soon  after  I  refuse  to 
speak ;  but  there  were  rumors  current,  for  a  long  time 
after,  of  events  in  the  other  Hall  that  night  which  had 
not  been  provided  for  in  their  programme.  From 
what  we  could  gather,  the  Freshman  from  Ocklawahaw 
declined  to  submit  to  what,  it  was  vaguely  rumored, 
he  had  regarded  as  personal  indignities.  It  was  said 
that  he  had  kicked  over  the  source  of  the  blue  flames, 
had  torn  off  the  shroud  of  a  leading  corpse,  and  had 
an  out-and-out  fight  with  the  ghost  of  the  man  whom 
the  society  had  been  reluctantly  compelled  to  murder 
for  revealing  its  secrets.  The  members  of  their  Hall 
were  morose  when  questioned  about  it  by  any  of  us ; 
but  it  was  well  known  that  the  Sophomore  who  had 
been  the  ghost  in  question  was  excused  for  days  after 
from  attendance  at  recitation  arid  chapel.  In  some 
way  Eoss  Urwoldt's  face  had  been  badly  scratched ; 
but  he  was  one  of  that  kind  of  men  of  whom  few  of 
us  cared  to  ask  questions. 

All  that  was  forgotten  as  our  class  adjusted  itself 
like  a  team  to  the  harness  and  steady  strain  of  what 

3 


34  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

was,  in  the  case  of  some  of  us,  honest  and  severe 
study.  We  watched  Ross  closely,  and  soon  saw  that 
he  was  bending  himself  to  his  work  with  a  will.  So 
far  as  a  Freshman  could  hope  to  be,  he  was  a  leader 
in  all  the  sports  of  the  campus,  and  was  always  more 
than  ready  for  a  walk,  and  the  longer  the  better. 

I  do  not  know  how  it  is  now,  but  in  those  more 
leisurely  days  many  a  student  went  through  the  inter 
val  of  his  four  years'  course  with,  alas,  as  little  genu 
ine  interest  in  or  good  from  it  as  a  Russian  peasant 
through  the  crossings  and  genuflections  of  a  church 
service.  But  it  was  plain  that  Ross  was  studying  hard, 
because  with  some  purpose  more  definite,  although 
concealed,  than  was  true  of  one  student  in  a  hundred. 
Through  it  all  I  could  see  that  he  was  none  the  less 
restless  and  dissatisfied. 

"  It  is  because  I  am  trying  to  get  at  the  results  of 
study,"  he  explained  to  me  one  day  when  the  term 
was  nearing  its  end,  "  that  I  cannot  stand  the  way  we 
go  to  work." 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  I  asked  ;  for  we  had  taken, 
as  I  have  said,  a  sincere  liking  to  each  other. 

"  You  are  the  first  man  I  Ve  mentioned  it  to,"  he 
said,  bringing  down  his  more  rapid  gait  to  mine,  as  I 
limped  by  his  side,  for  I  was  then  quite  lame,  hold 
ing  on  to  his  arm,  "  but  what  I  mean  is  —  every 
thing  !  It  may  suit  you  fellows  who  have  lived  all 
your  lives  in  towns  and  cities,  but  you  know,"  he 
continued,  "  that  I  am  different.  It  is  not  the  Refec 
tory  fare  I  object  to,  for  I  can  digest  anything.  Nor 
is  it  having,  to  box  myself  up  in  a  close  room,  for 


IN  COLLEGE.  35  ' 

that  I  must  do  if  I  am  to  learn  something  more  than 
how  to  ride,  to  swim,  or  to  shoot.  Perhaps  the  un 
natural  in-door  life  is  telling  upon  my  health,  and 
I  am  becoming  too  impatient  ih  consequence ;  but  I 
cannot  endure  the  slow  and  round-about  stupidity  of 
things." 

"  Hold  up,"  I  complained,  panting.  We  were  out 
on  a  Saturday  afternoon  walk  to  Jug-town,  and  Ross 
had  brought  me  farther  into  the  country  from  college 
than  I  had  intended,  and  was  rushing  me  along  faster 
and  faster  as  he  talked.  "  Hold  up,  man,  and  listen 
to  reason,"  I  said.  "  You  cannot  go  to  college,  and 
at  the  same  time  be  out  upon  the  prairie  after  deer. 
What  you  desire  is  to  skim  swiftly  and  like  a  swallow 
over  the  mere  surface.  If  you  are  to  be  thorough,  you 
must  take  time  to  go  down  into  the  depth  of  matters, 
man." 

"  I  agree  with  you,"  he  said ;  "  but  see  here,  Guern 
sey.  When  I  am  at  home  I  spend  half  almost  of 
every  day,  when  it  is  warm  enough,  in  the  river. 
To  vary  the  fun,  I  throw  in  a  Mexican  dollar  and  dive 
for  it..  But  the  water  is  muddy,  the  silver  sinks 
into  the  slimy  bottom,  and  I  must  dive  down  as 
direct  as  an  arrow  from  a  bow  if  I  am  to  grab  the 
money  in  my  first  handful  of  mud.  It  is  different 
here.  When  we  try  to  know  anything,  —  language, 
mathematics,  whatever  it  is,  —  we  do  not  go  straight 
for  it ;  we  plunge  about  this  way  and  that,  making 
the  muddy  water  muddier  than  ever.  And  they  insist 
upon  it  that  I  shall  do  the  same.  When  I  try  to  say 
a  thing  in  the  simplest  way,  they  want  me  to  put  it 


36  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

into  a  lingo  instead,  like  this :  I  must  not  say  I  know, 
but  I  apprehend ;  not  I  value,  but  I  estimate,  appreci 
ate  ;  not  I  live  in,  but  I  reside  in,  Old  Orange,"  —  and 
my  friend  illustrated  his  meaning  at  length.  "  And 
the  religion  is  worst  of  all,"  he  added. 

"  Eeligion !  "  But  I  knew,  in  making  the  excla 
mation,  what  he  meant. 

"  If  people  would  only  say  in  sermons  right  out 
then  and  there,  like  old  Parson  Williams,  what  they 
have  to  say ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  They  wrap  up  even 
that  in  words,  words  !  It  is  as  if  a  man  was  dropping 
medicine  out  of  a  vial,  drip,  drip,  drop,  drop,  either 
as  if  it  was  poison  which  might  kill,  or  as  if  there 
was  so  very  little  of  it  the  supply  would  give  out. 
So  of  prayer-meeting.  Fellows  come  into  it  at  night, 
used  up,  and  what  a  funeral  they  make  of  it !  They 
fall,  like  medicine  men,  into  the  same  old  tones  and 
phrases,  like  a  cypress  swamp  full  of  frogs,  and  I 
can't  stand  it.  I  won't  go  any  more." 

1  reasoned  with  him  in  vain.  It  was  as  if  I  were 
trying  to  have  him  abandon  his  free  gait  for  my  halt 
ing  limp.  There  was  'that,  then  as  ever,  in  Boss 
which  I  could  not  understand,  and  therefore  did  not 
know  how  to  grapple  with.  As  a  general  thing  men 
and  rifles  are  made  so  exceedingly  alike,  coming  as  it 
were  from  the  same  manufactory,  that  when  y«>u 
comprehend  one  man  or  rifle  you  comprehend  all. 
The  rawest  recruit,  in  learning  how  to  handle  one 
weapon,  knows  how  to  use  every  other  rifle  in  the 
army ;  and,  knowing  how  to  influence  one  man,  you 
know  how  to  approach  every  other.  But,  not  to  press 


IN  COLLEGE.  37 

the  figure  too  far,  this  native  of  Ocklawahaw  was  an 
Indian  bow  instead,  tough  and  strong,  and  I  never 
did  know — let  me  frankly  confess  it — how  to  han 
dle  him.  Whether  he  was  so  tough  or  I  was  so 
weak  I  cannot  say ;  one  thing  is  sure,  —  I  was  never 
the  Ulysses  who  could  bend  him  to  my  way  of  think 
ing  or  acting. 

We  had  much  talk  before  we  got  through,  but  it 
did  no  good.  "  Professors  and  students,"  he  said  at 
last,  "  you  all  remind  me  of  the  crowd  hanging  about 
the  old  store  in  my  town,  —  Indians,  ragged  negroes, 
lazy  half-breeds,  strangers  on  the  lookout  to  cheat 
somebody ;  so  you  people  seem  to  me  to  be  loafing 
around,  waiting  for  somebody  else  to  do  something." 

He,  at  least,  exerted  himself.  He  stood  high  in  his 
class,  took  more  than  one  prize  for  languages  and 
natural  philosophy,  was  the  crack  orator,  the  most 
popular  man  in  college.  But  alas  for  human  calcula 
tion  !  As  he  drew  near  the  close  of  his  Junior  year 
an  event  befell. 

The  largest  of  the  college  buildings  at  that  date 
was  an  edifice  of  stone,  four  stories  high,  a  brick- 
paved  corridor  running  the  length  of  each  story,  with 
dormitories  opening  into  it  upon  either  side.  Ross 
had  his  rooms  in  this  building,  and  on  the  highest 
floor.  On  going  down  the  stone  stairs  one  evening 
to  supper  he  found  that  each  of  the  great  oaken  doors 
was  barricaded  from  within.  There  were  no  gymna 
siums  in  those  days,  in  which  the  wild  fellows  could 
work  off  their  superfluous  energy,  and  the  intention 
,of  the  insurgents  was  to  keep  out  the  tutors  on  their 


38  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

return  from  supper,  and  "  have  a  little  fun,"  as  they 
explained  to  Eoss,  who  was,  on  the  whole,  more  of  a 
born  leader  of  men  than  any  one  else  in  college.  He 
would  not  help  them,  and  begged  to  be  let  out.  This 
fhey  would  not  grant.  Not  to  interrupt  their  long 
and  painfully  planned  arrangements,  he  attempted  to 
go  back  to  his  rooms  up-stairs;  but  this  also  they 
laughingly  resisted. 

"  You  must  take  command,"  they  said ;  "  you  are 
the  best  man  to  do  it."  This  he  declined ;  but  his 
blood  began  to  warm  as  he  saw  what  was  going  on. 
There  were  scores  of  fellows  at  work  heaping  ammu 
nition  of  bags  of  sand  at  the  windows  over  the  outer 
doors,  building  fires  upon  the  pavements  of  each  story 
near  by,  laying  in  supplies  of  water,  hot  and  cold, 
with  which  to  repel  assault.  The  ancestral  savage  in 
Eoss  arose  within  him  as  he  was  hustled  about  by 
the  students,  swarming  hither  and  thither  in  their 
shirt-sleeves,  their  heads  tied  up  in  red  silk  handker 
chiefs.  His  eyes  kindled,  his  heart  beat  faster,  even 
while  he  remonstrated  with  the  rest  and  refused  to 
take  part. 

As  he  did  so,  there  arose  a  clamor,  at  the  chief  en 
trance,  of  students  banging  at  the  doors  outside  and 
wishing  to  enter.  Then  there  was  an  awful  silence 
within  and  without;  the  tutors  had  discovered  the  state 
of  things,  and  hurried  away  in  search  of  axes.  Soon 
they  were  back  in  force,  and  their  resounding  blows 
proved  how  determined  they  were  to  force  an  entrance. 
But  the  besieged  were  prepared.  Bugles  sounded 
through  the  great  building;  drums  and  fifes  sum- 


IN  COLLEGE.  39 

moned  to  arras.  Still  Eoss  resisted  the  rising  tide  of 
insurrection,  fiercer  within  him  than  without.  Nor 
would  he  have  yielded  if  a  sudden  panic  had  not 
seized  upon  the  garrison,  and  that  he  could  not  endure 
to  see. 

I  suppose  something  must  be  allowed  for  the  wild 
instincts  of  the  lad,  for  he  was  little  more.  He  had 
chafed,  too,  for  so  long  under  restrictions  to  which 
he  had  been  utterly  unaccustomed.  In  an  instant  he 
had  become  commander-in-chief  of  the  garrison.  By 
this  time  the  assault  had  begun  at  every  door,  and 
Eoss,  bereft  for  the  time  of  his  reason,  although  cool 
enough  in  bearing,  hastened  here  and  there,  directing, 
encouraging,  assisting.  I  am  sure  he  must  have 
been,  for  the  moment,  as  demented  as  Don  Quixote ; 
for  with  his  own  scorched  hands  he  hailed  down 
upon  the  head  of  the  tutor  plying  his  axe  below, 
ashes,  coals,  blazing  brands. 

Alas,  before  very  long  the  besieged  gave  way  at 
other  doors,  and  scattered  to  their  rooms,  where  they 
were  discovered  immediately  afterward  by  the  in 
vading  force,  in  the  act,  every  man  of  them,  of  dili 
gent  study. 

"  It  is  not  that  I  am  expelled,"  Eoss  remarked  to 
me  when  all  was  over,  and  while  he  was  packing  his 
trunk  for  Ocklawahaw.  "  That  of  course.  What  I 
hate  is  that  there  was  not  one  of  the  fellows  who  had 
the  manliness  to  stand  up  and  tell  the  facts ;  and 
that,  although  they  had  been  planning  the  thing  for 
weeks !  The  Faculty  have  gathered  from  their  silence 
that  I  was  the  ringleader  from  the  first.  They  will 


40  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

not  learn  otherwise  from  me.  But  you  cannot  tell, 
Guernsey,  how  I  hate  it!" 

We  were  alone  together  in  his  room.  He  at  last 
locked  and  sat  down  upon  his  trunk.  His  eyes 
rested  upon  the  floor  between  his  feet,  but  they  saw 
the  brown  face  of  his  mother,  saw  the  very  beads 
about  her  neck.  I  am  sure  he  had  forgotten  I  was 
there,  for,  to  my  astonishment,  the  tears  were  rolling 
down  his  cheeks.  I  had  already  visited  the  Faculty 
on  his  behalf,  not  telling  any  one  of  it;  but  it  had 
been  in  vain,  and  I  could  have  wrung  their  necks  as 
I  saw  the-  deadly  mischief  they  were  doing,  and  un 
justly,  to  the  one  of  their  pupils  who  was  worth 
more,  or  would  be,  than  all  the  hundreds  beside. 
What  could  I  say  now  ?  He  looked  up  and  remem 
bered  that  I  was  there.  "  0  Guernsey,"  he  said,  "  if 
you  but  knew ! " 

"  Knew,  old  fellow  ? " 

"  Yes,  about  my — father.  About  my  mother.  How 
anxious  she  is,  not  so  much  for  me,  as  for  what  she 
wanted  me  to  be  to  our  poor  people.  She  was  to 
have  been  a  help  to  them,  and  —  and  married  my 
father  instead.  That  is  why  she  had  set  her  heart 
upon  me,  and  what  I  might  do."  This,  also,  I  had 
already  urged  upon  the  Faculty,  for  I  had  guessed  as 
much  before. 

"  They  intend  merely  to  rusticate  you ;  in  a  month 
or  two  you  will  be  recalled,"  I  said. 

"  As  if  I  would  return  ! "  he  exclaimed  with  scorn. 

I  said  all  I  could,  but  he  had  nothing  to  reply.  It 
reminded  me  of  the  way  in  which  his  people  were 


IN  COLLEGE.  41 

said  to  have  yielded  to  pestilence  from  the  first. 
That,  also,  was  part  of  the  utter  nature  in  him,  as  in 
them,  and  it  lit  up  his  character  to  me  as  by  a  flash 
of  light.  As  will  be  seen  hereafter,  and  in  affairs  of 
vastly  more  importance,  my  friend  was  one  to  whom 
a  thing  may  happen  once,  but  never  twice.  Like 
thoroughly  tempered  steel,  he  could  endure  almost 
anything,  but,  in  regard  to  any  special  matter,  when 
he  was  done  with  it  then,  like  steel  snapped  in  two, 
he  was  broken  clean  off  from  it  and  forever. 

He  now  shook  himself,  put  back  his  hair  from  his 
forehead,  bathed  his  face,  and  stood  before  me,  cold 
and  composed.  "My  chief  feeling,"  he  said,  "is  not 
contempt  for  those  fellows,  but  that  I  should  have 
yielded !  There  is  not  a  man  of  them  I  despise  as 
heartily  as  I  do  myself ! " 

A  negro  came  in  and  took  his  trunk.  Eoss  lin 
gered  a  moment,  drawing  on  his  gloves ;  he  seemed 
to  class  me  with  himself  and  all  the  rest,  for,  with 
scorn  upon  his  face,  he  added,  "  Contemptible  !  "  and 
walked  out.  I  was  the  one  in  college  with  whom 
alone  he  had  been  at  all  intimate,  yet  he  did  not  say 
good-by,  or  even  look  at  me  as  he  went. 

I  was  but  beginning  to  understand  Eoss  Urwoldt. 
"We  have  all  observed  how  insects  in  passing  each 
other  will  stop  for  an  instant,  examine  each  the  other 
with  quick  movement  of  what  children  call  their 
"feelers,"  and  hurry  on,  satisfied  each  as  to  the 
morals  too,  I  suppose,  of  the  other.  Now,  my  chief 
interest  has  always  been  in  regard  to  my  fellow  in 
sects;  yet  so  little  at  last  do  I  know  of  people  in 


42  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

general  that  I  have  often  said  to  myself,  "Surely  my 
antennae  are  the  shortest,  the  least  sensitive,  least 
accurate  of  any."  But  I  came  to  know  Ross  Urwoldt. 
Owing  to  what  befell  him,  I  could  not  help  but  come 
to  know  him,  not  perfectly,  but  yet  as  one  rarely  does 
any  man.  He  was  worth  knowing. 

To  keep  things  straight  and  clear,  let  me  add  here 
and  now  that  I  often  wrote  to  my  friend  after  this, 
wrote  to  him  so  often  and  in  such  a  manner  that  he 
could  not  help  replying  to  me  from  his  home  in  the 
West  fully  and  freely,  especially  as  I  was  the  only 
person  to  whom  he  did  write.  More  than  once  he 
varied  his  expeditions  into  forest  and  prairie  by  com 
ing  to  see  me  on  my  island  off  the  Carolina  coast. 
His  visits  were  very  brief;  but  it  is  from  them  and 
from  his  letters  that  I  derived  my  perfect  knowledge 
of  what  follows.  But  I  know  Eoss  best  from  know 
ing  his  influence  afterward  upon  another  person,  and 
that  a  woman.  You  measure  to  a  hair's  breadth  the 
climate  of  an  empire  by  its  varying  effect  upon  the 
silvery  thread  in  the  fragile  tube  of  a  thermometer, 
and  I  came  to  my  final  knowledge  of  this  friend  of 
mine  through  his  power  upon  Persis  Paige.  Of  her 
I  hasten  to  speak  as  soon  as  I  can. 


THE  BIG  MEETINGS.  43 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  BIG  MEETINGS. 

"T^VUPJXG  the  absence  of  Eoss  at  college  things 
^^  had  not  been  prosperous  in  Ocklawahaw.  Par 
son  "Williams  was  becoming  so  old  and  infirm  as  to 
have  lost,  comparatively,  his  restraining  influence, 
and  his  assistant  in  teaching,  Amasa  Clarke,  was  too 
indolent  a  man  to  be  of  more  than  nominal  help  in 
the  work.  General  Urwoldt  had  abandoned  himself 
to  debauchery.  There  was  more  gambling,  horse- 
racing,  stealing,  murder,  than  the  Reservation  had 
ever  witnessed,  and  an  universal  indolence  and  apathy 
had  settled  upon  the  people  like  a  malarious  fog. 
Then  came  a  drought,  parching  the  very  grass  of 
the  prairies,  until  the  cattle  fed,  in  their  desperation, 
upon  the  prickly  pears,  and  perished  by  thousands, 
choked  to  death  by  the  thorns  and  the  thirst.  The 
river  became  so  low  that  it  could  be  waded  by  the 
children,  and  the  wells  and  springs  gave  out.  In 
hastening,  the  next  spring,  to  make  up  arrears,  Nature 
sent  such  rains  and  freshets  that  the  crops  rotted 
along  the  banks  of  the  overflowing  river.  After  that 
the  grasshoppers  invaded  the  land  in  desolating  myr 
iads,  until  the  hearts  of  the  people  seemed  broken. 
Then  came  a  change.  No  one  could  say  when  it 


44  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

began,  or  how,  but  there  could  be  no  doubt  as  to  the* 
fact.  Ross  described  it  to  me  afterward.  "  All  at 
once,"  he  said,  "  the  huge  church,  so  long  empty, 
began  to  fill  up  on  Sundays.  Parson  Williams  would 
have  given  up  and  died  in  despair,  had  he  been  any 
other  than  the  man  he  was.  Now  he  was  as  much 
astonished  as  any,  for  the  people  began  to  flock  in  as 
they  had  never  done.  Then  prayer-meetings  were 
appointed.  After  that  the  people  insisted  upon  ser 
mons  during  the  week,  too.  From  over  the  whole 
Reservation,  Indians,  half-breeds,  white  settlers,  came 
crowding  in,  each  man  as  of  his  own  impulse,  bring 
ing  tents  and  provisions  with  them.  Then  the  fact 
of  the  crowds  became  an  event  which  drew  others 
from  farther  around  to  see  what  it  meant,  until,  at 
last,  the  church  edifice  was  abandoned  as  too  small. 
Parson  Williams  obtained  missionaries  from  other 
stations  to  help  him,  and  services  were  held  two  or 
three  times  a  day,  and  far  into  the  night,  under  an 
arbor  in  the  edge  of  the  woods. 

"When  I  got  back  from  college,"  Ross  went  on, 
"  I  was  amazed.  It  seemed  to  me  as  if  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  from  a  hundred  miles  around  was 
there;  and  when  the  iron  baskets,  swinging  from  the 
rafters  of  the  arbor  and  filled  with  pine  knots,  were 
kindled  of  nights,  I  assure  you  it  was  a  sight  to  see, 
that  densely  crowded  multitude. 

"  You  have  seen  pictures,"  Ross  continued,  "  of  the 
Deluge,  in  which  animals  of  all  sorts  —  lions,  apes, 
elephants,  serpents,  tigers,  rabbits,-  doves,  crocodiles, 
eatrles,  foxes,  wolves  —  are  crowded  together  in  one 


THE  BIG  MEETINGS.  45 

compact  and  terrified  mass,  by  the  advancing  flood, 
upon  the  pinnacle  of  a  mountain.  I  was  reminded 
of  it  when  I  saw  that  queer  coming  together  of  all 
varieties  of  people,  as  if  under  the  compulsion  of 
some  dreadful  and  rising  Deluge.  They  would  crowd 
in,  sit  through  long  services,  go  off  to  one  side  to 
snatch  a  little  food,  to  get  a  few  hours  of  sleep,  and 
hasten  back  again  as  if  under  a  power  which  paralyzed 
them  from  even  desiring  to  do  anything  else." 

"  Could  it  have  been  the  eloquence  of  the  speak 
ers  ? "  I  asked. 

Eoss  Urwoldt  laughed.  "  It  was  not  your  idea  of 
eloquence,  Guernsey,"  he  exclaimed.  "  Cicero  would 
have  been  bewildered  by  it.  Although,  now  I  think 
of  it,  I  am  satisfied  Demosthenes  would  have  rather 
liked  it,  as  every  sermon  began  at  least  with  a  phi 
lippic  more  vigorous  and  unsparing  than  he  had  ever 
attempted  at  Athens." 

"  A  philippic  ? " 

"Yes;  and  each  hearer  was  himself  the  Philip 
against  whom  the  preachers  thundered.  Parson 
Williams  had  caught  from  the  Indians  a  style  of 
plain  speaking  which  would  electrify  an  audience 
outside  the  Eeservation,  and  his  brethren  in  the  stand 
beside  him  were  not  slow  in  following  his  example 
when  he  had  to  cease  for  the  moment  by  reason  of 
exhaustion.  He  and  they  had  long  arrears  of  rebuke 
and  denunciation  to  make  up,  for  it  had  been  but  a 
sparse  attendance  they  had  enjoyed  before.  It  is 
impossible  for  any  man  to  tell  another  his  sins  more 
definitely  than  the  hearers  were  told  theirs  then,  and 


46  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

it  was  a  black  list,  you  may  suppose.  From  being  an 
aged  and  almost  decrepit  man,  Parson  Williams  had 
become  erect  again,  young,  vigorous.  He  was  not  so 
much  like  one  brought  back  again  from  his  old  age, 
as  like  a  dead  prophet  raised  again  to  life.  For 
the  moment  he  regarded  himself  as  standing  in  the 
place  of  God,  of  an  offended  God.  You  know  how 
little  I  believe  in  such  things,"  Eoss  said,  "  but  to 
listen  to  him  it  was  as  if  he  had  really  and  truly 
passed  out  of  his  own  hands  into  those  of  a  higher 
power.  Almost  his  entire  sermon  on  each  occasion 
was  Scripture,  and  spoken  with,  I  dare  say,  the  very 
fury  of  the  one  who  first  gave  it  utterance.  His  eyes 
were,  when  in  the  hottest  heat  of  his  message,  as 
coals  of  fire ;  his  white  hair  flickering,  as  he  spoke, 
like  flames  with  the  intensity  thereof." 

"  In  other  words,"  I  suggested,  "  the  preacher  was 
but  the  drought,  the  flood,  the  grasshoppers  come  to  a 
climax,  the  wrath  of  Heaven  taking  to  itself  articulate 
speech." 

"  Yes,"  Ross  added ;  "  and  Nature  itself  teaches  us 
that  nothing  but  tornado  and  tempest  can  break  the 
rotting  stagnation  of  things.  Like  men  and  women 
everywhere,  the  people  needed  a  thunderstorm,  and 
Parson  Williams  left  them  little  to  desire  as  to  that." 

"  He  could  not  have  frightened  them,"  I  remarked, 
"  if  conscience  had  not  anticipated  and  assented  to  all 
he  could  say.  The  axioms  of  mathematics  are  not  the 
only  certainties.  When  a  man  is  forced  to  see  it, 
penalty  for  wrong-doing  is  as  axiomatically  certain  as 
that  twice  two  is  four." 


THE  BIG  MEETINGS.  47 

"  They  were  terribly  frightened,  that  is  a  certainty. 
But,"  Eoss  continued,  "  if  the  Big  Meetings,  as  they 
were  called,  began  with  Sinai,  they  ended  with  some 
thing  else.  The  thunder  and  the  lightning  gave  place 
to  the  story  of  Calvary  and  to  —  In  your  superior 
civilization,"  my  friend  interrupted  himself,  "your 
preachers  rarely  venture  upon  the  terrors,  and  there 
fore  they  never  come  to  such  pathetic  appeal,  such 
irresistible  persuasion,  as  can  follow  only  upon  that. 
You  know,"  he  went  on,  with  the  scene  before  him 
as  he  spoke,  "  that  Indians  are  a  silent  people,  and 
that  all  varieties  of  the  whites  who  settle  among 
them  become  so  too.  Except  that  now  and  then  a 
woman  would  break  out,  unconsciously  to  herself,  in 
to  the  lament  as  for  the  dead,  you  could  almost  hear 
each  of  the  yellow  leaves  of  the  arbor  as  it  fell  to  the 
earth.  It  was  very  strange.  To  this  day  I  cannot 
comprehend  it,"  Eoss  went  on,  "  but  many  were  weep 
ing  to  themselves  —  I  had  no  intention  of  saying  so 
much,"  he  added,  "  and  that  is  all.  The  phenomenon 
lasted  for  many  weeks,  and  ended  then  only  from 
exhaustion  of  speakers  and  hearers.  While  it  con 
tinued  there  was  no  more  drinking,  gambling,  fight 
ing.  Hundreds  joined  the  church  afterward.  The 
schools  were  scoured,  repainted,  crowded  with  chil 
dren,  over  the  whole  Eeservation.  People  gave 
money  like  water  to  enlarge  the  church  edifice,  to 
repair  the  academy.  Of  course  many  of  the  converts 
fell  away,  but  the  meetings  have  left  their  mark  upon 
the  people  to  this  day." 

I  never  knew  how  far,  at  the  time,  Eoss  allowed 


48  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

himself  to  be  affected  by  the  services  of  which  he 
spoke.  His  mother  was  disappointed  at  his  expulsion 
from  college,  and  to  please  her  he  attended  upon 
them.  But  one  morning  during  their  continuance  he 
arose  very  early ;  after  feeding  arid  chaining  up  his 
dogs  from  following  him,  he  took  a  little  parched 
corn  and  jerked  venison,  and,  leaving,  for  the  first 
time  in  his  life,  his  rifle  behind  him,  he  went  into 
the  woods.  The  only  person  he  saw,  as  he  passed 
through  the  village,  was  Persis,  Parson  "Williains's 
granddaughter.  She  could  not  have  been  more  than 
twelve  years  old  at  the  time,  and  had  to  do  almost 
the  entire  work  of  the  house,  they  were  so  poor. 
Occasional  touches  of  the  ague  had  left  her  as  frail  as 
an  autumn  leaf.  As  Eoss  went  by,  Persis  was  coming 
out  of  her  door  to  cut  cabbage  for  dinner  in  their  little 
garden  near  by.  She  was  nothing  more  than  a  thin- 
bodjed,  sallow-visaged,  barefooted  child  in  her  calico 
frock.  You  see  scores  of  such  country  girls  out  West. 
When  you  meet  them  going  to  school  along  the  high 
way,  or  coming  in  from  blackberrying,  chattering 
bands  of  them,  with  lips  and  hands  stained  from 
their  work,  they  look  as  _much  alike  as  a  covey  of 
quails. 

As  Persis  came  out,  Ross  was  striding  by,  his  head 
sunk  upon  his  bosom  in  thoughts  wholly  new  to  him. 
He  saw  her  as  one  sees  a  familiar  cat,  and  recognized 
her  with  a  nod.  As  he  did  so,  she  was  in  the  act  of 
lifting  the  hand  which  held  the  knife  to  put  out 
of  her  eyes  the  brown  hair  blown  into  them  by  the 
morning  wind.  A  gleam  of  fun  came  into  the  face 


THE  BIG  MEETINGS.  49 

of  Ross ;  he  had  not  seen  her  before  since  his  coming 
back  from  college,  but  up  to  his  leaving  Ocklawahaw 
he  had  known  her  from  the  time  she,  at  least,  could 
remember. 

"  Is  that  you,  Persis,"  he  said,  "  and  lifting  your 
knife  at  me  ?  You  won't  kill  me,  will  you  ? "  He 
threw  out  his  hand  in  feigned  alarm,  and  laughed, 
and  passed  on.  In  ten  steps  he  had  forgotten  her' 
existence.  But  Persis  did  not  forget  as  easily.  If 
he  had  not  seen  her  before,  she  had  seen  him,  looking 
among  the  throngs  at  the  meetings  until  she  had  found 
him. 

"  How  he  has  grown  ! "  she  said  to  herself.  "  He 
must  have  learned  more  than  grandpa  in  his  college. 
I  hope  he  won't  go  to  drinking  like  his  father.  He 
looks  more  like  his  mother,  though." 

And  then  she  continued  on  her  way  to  the  garden, 
lifting  the  old  gate  by  quite  an  effort  before  she 
could  get  it  open.  She  took  breath  after  she  had 
done  so,  and  looked  after  Eoss,  who  was  disappearing 
among  the  live-oaks. 

"  He  is  not  going  off  on  a  hunt,  he  has  no  rifle,"  she 
thought.  "  Why  don't  he  take  a  horse  ? "  But  with 
that  she  hurried  on ;  for  Persis  had  more  than  enough 
to  do,  —  breakfast  to  get ;  after  prayers,  the  things  to 
wash  up,  clothes  to  mend,  dinner  to  put  on,  stockings 
to  darn,  a  little  ciphering  to  do  if  possible,  her  grand 
father's  shirts  to  iron  after  yesterday's  wash,  the  tins 
to  scour. 

One  morning  before  that,  as  Persis  came  home  from 
the  old  spring  with  a  bucket  of  water,  it  had  occurred 


50  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

to  her  when  she  stopped  to  rest,  putting  the  bucket 
down  for  a  moment,  that  she  would  see  if  she  could 
not  look  steadily  at  the  sun  rising  in  the  east.  She 
did  it  as  long  as  she  could,  but,  for  her  pains,  she  had 
the  image  of  the  sun  dancing  before  her  eyes  as  she 
stumbled  homeward,  and  for  some  time  afterward. 
It  was  so  now.  She  was  an  ignorant  little  country 
girl  with  plenty  to  do,  but  somehow  she  saw  little  be 
side  Ross  all  that  day  and  long  after. 

"  I  must  make  time  to  sew  a  little,"  she  said  to  her 
self,  "  on  my  new  calico.  It 's  two  months  I  have 
been  trying  to  finish  it.  I  must  have  it  by  next 
Sunday." 

And  so  she  did ;  but,  alas,  on  Sunday  Eoss  was  not 
at  meeting  to  see. 


A  STRUGGLE.  51 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  STRUGGLE. 

npHERE  are  some  matters  concerning  which  I  have 
•>**  not  cared  to  ask  Ross  Urvvoldt  too  many  ques 
tions,  and  what  befell  him  during  this  expedition  of 
his  into  the  woods  is  one  of  them.  I  will  explain 
why. 

My  own  home  is  upon  an  island  off  the  Carolina 
coast.  On  one  side  it  is  buttressed  by  jagged  rocks, 
and,  when  the  tide  is  in,  there  are  secluded  nooks 
among  these,  in  which  I  love  to  bathe  as  a  relief  from 
hard  work  or  severe  pain.  In  some  of  these  natural 
basins  I  feel  entirely  safe.  My  bathing  is  done  in 
midwinter  as  in  midsummer,  and  I  do  not  linger  a 
moment  on  the  brown  boulders  overhanging  such  a 
pool,  shivering  in  the  wind,  or  scorching  in  the  sun? 
but  dash  headforemost  down  and  down  to  what  I 
know  is  the  sandy  bottom,  clean  as  a  carpet  and  as 
smooth.  But  there  are  other  stone-locked  bits  of  clear 
salt  water  into  which  I  would  be  a  fool  thus  to  dive. 
I  know  what  they  are  from  what  I  see  when  the  tide 
is  out,  —  basins  broad  and  deep,  but  bristling  with 
cruel  rocks,  upon  which  I  would  be  gored  through 
and  through  at  the  first  plunge.  And  so  there  are 
friends  with  whom  I  can  and  do  venture  anything  as 


52  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

the  whim  seizes  me ;  but  with  this  friend  it  is  differ 
ent.  His  depths  are  deeper  than  those  of  other  men. 
Moreover,  I  have  been  with  him  enough,  when  the 
tide  was  out,  to  know  of  the  jagged  rocks  which  are 
there,  whatever  sea  may  be  in.  Not  that  Ross  Urwoldt 
is  not,  as  I  have  said,  simple  and  straightforward ;  but, 
alas,  he  is  so  in  the  inmost  and  unalterable  hardnesses 
of  his  soul  also. 

Persis  Paige  had  always  been  afraid  of  Ross  Ur 
woldt  ;  he  had  been  dark  and  stern,  for  one  so  young, 
ever  since  she  could  remember  him.  She  had  been 
toughened  by  hard  work  from  childhood,  had  small 
time  to  think  definitely  of  him  the  day  she  hastened 
to  cut  her  cabbages  and  go  in  to  her  other  work ;  but 
she  had  still  been  a  little  in  fear  of  Ross  even  when 
she  laughed  with  him.  During  the  manifold  tasks 
of  the  day,  whenever  she  did  recur  to  the  scene  of 
the  morning,  it  was  with  a  sense  of  sadness,  too, 
which  she  could  not  understand. 

Even  his  own  mother  feared,  I  know, for  Ross, because 
she  felt  that  she  did  not  fully  understand  him ;  so 
much  so,  that  when  he  had  been  gone  for  several  days 
she  could  not  rest,  and  followed  him.  How  she  tracked 
him,  who  can  say  ?  But  she  came  upon  him  farther 
away  in  the  depths  of  the  forest  than  she  had  counted 
upon  when  she  left  the  village.  By  some  maternal, 
if  not  Indian,  instinct  she  knew,  at  last,  as  she  stole 
along  through  the  tangle  of  drooping  vines  and  hang 
ing  moss,  and  around  the  trunks  of  the  great  trees, 
that  he  was  not  far  off.  And  then,  creeping  nearer 
and  nearer  with  moccasined  feet  and  stealthy  move- 


A   STRUGGLE.  53 

ment,  she  crouched  low  among  the  dead  leaves,  and, 
parting  a  sumach  growth  between,  she  saw  her  son. 
At  the  sight  she  could  with  difficulty  keep  down  the 
cry  which  rose  to  her  lips,  as  of  a  dam  after  its  wounded 
young ;  he  had  been  away  from  her  so  long  at  college, 
almost  from  his  birth  it  seemed  to  her,  and  was  he  not 
all  she  had  ?  He  had  made  a  fire  which  was  smoulder 
ing  under  a  fallen  log  near  by,  and  which  gave  out  an 
acrid  smell  to  the  heavy  air  from  what  seemed  to  be 
a  bank  of  ashes  merely.  On  the  other  side  of  him  a 
tree  lay  on  the  earth,  prostrated  by  some  strong  wind, 
half  of  its  roots  projecting  high  above  the  pit  made  in 
the  black  earth  by  its  overthrow,  yet  struggling  still 
to  live  in  every  bough  and  twig ;  and  the  quick  eyes 
of  the  mother  marked  the  pouches  of  food  stowed 
away  "therein  as  if  unused.  He  had  spread  his  Mex 
ican  blanket  upon  the  dead  leaves  between  the  fire 
and  the  uptorn  tree,  and,  lying  at  length  thereon, 
he  held  a  book  in  his  hand,  but  was  not  reading ;  he 
seemed  too  tired  to  do  so.  With  her  keen  glance 
Mitchabuna  saw  how  pallid  he  was,  how  exhausted 
he  seemed  to  be,  as  from  a  severe  strife ;  and  she 
understood  it  well. 

Among  all  Indian  nations — in  every  savage  tribe  on 
earth,  in  fact — it  is  the  custom  for  the  young  men  to  go 
apart  and  spend  a  time  in  seclusion.  It  is  an  instinct  • 
and  the  period  answers  to  the  putting  on  of  the  toga 
virilis  of  the  Eomans.  From  time  immemorial,  from 
years  long  before  Columbus  discovered  America,  such 
had  been  the  custom  in  the  nation  of  which  Ross 
Urwoldt  was  one  day  to  be  the  headman.  In  each 


54  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

generation  it  had  been  the  pride  of  the  young  brave 
thus  gone  apart  to  spend  as  long  a  time  as  possible 
in  the  depths  of  forest  or  mountain  alone,  starving, 
often  lacerating,  himself  until  barely  strength  enough 
was  left  to  crawl  back  to  camp  again.  When  the 
Spartans  scourged  their  boys  at  the  altars  of  their 
gods,  it  was  by  the  same  instinct.  Not  that  Ross 
cared  for  the  custom  of  his  people  as  a  custom ;  it  was 
the  blind  instinct  coming  down  to  him  along  the  cur 
rent  of  his  blood  for  a  thousand  years.  Unconscious 
that  it  was  a  custom,  he  had  felt  that  he  could  not 
enter  upon  manhood  urftil  after  he  had  passed  through 
a  set  period  of  utter  seclusion.  Especially  since  his 
expulsion  from  college,  he  felt  as  if  he  could  not  be  at 
ease  until  he  knew  himself  better  than  he  did.  How 
could  any  one  rightly  estimate,  properly  place  him, 
while  he  himself  was  utterly  afloat,  tossed  about,  be 
wildered  as  to  who  and  what  he  was  ? 

"  Parson  Williams  told  me  one  day,"  he  let  slip  to 
me  afterward,  "  that  a  man  cannot  begin  to  live  until  he 
has  gone  off  from  everybody  and  found  out  two  things. 
He  must  face  what  is  called  God,  and  find  out  for 
himself  whether  there  is  any  Maker,  and  who  He  is. 
Not  until  he  has  done  that  can  he  say  anything  about 
God  to  anybody,  —  for  how  can  he  ?  he  don't  know 
Him.  In  the  same  way,  if  I  am  to  assert  myself  to 
others  I  must  first  find  out  for  myself  who  I  am.  To 
do  this  I  must,  according  to  old  Father  Williams,  go 
off  by  myself,  lay  hold  upon  and  halt  myself,  must 
look  myself  steadily  in  the  eyes,  and  know  what  I 
am.  What  do  you  think  of  it  ? " 


A   STRUGGLE.  55 

I  am  satisfied  that  Ross  was  alluding  to  this  period 
in  his  experience.  His  mother  understood  all,  as, 
crouched  upon  the  earth,  motionless,  except  for  the 
beating  of  her  heart,  she  watched  him,  and  more  keenly 
than  When  she  had  supposed  him  to  be  dying  of  the 
small-pox. 

As  she  did  so,  her  son  seemed  to  arouse  himself  as 
from  a  stupor.  He  arose,  walked  hither  and  thither, 
stopped  to  listen,  glanced  with  a  wearied  eye  into  his 
book,  tossed  it  impatiently  aside,  put  his  hair  from 
his  eyes.  After  walking  up  and  down  more  and  more 
rapidly,  he  stopped,  his  face  toward  where  his  mother 
lay.  As  she  gazed  upon  him  she  shuddered,  for  she 
had  always  felt,  as  in  the  case  even  of  his  father,  a 
certain  inferiority  to  him.  For  too  many  ages  had 
woman  in  her  ancestry  been  the  slave  of  man  for  her 
to  have  rid  herself  wholly  of  that,  and  now  she  hardly 
recognized  him.  His  head  was  thrown  back;  his  eyes, 
larger,  seemingly  blacker  than  before  from  his  long 
abstinence,  were  fastened,  as  if  in  expectation  of 
something,  upon  the  sky  overhead.  For  some  time 
he  stood,  eager,  motionless,  expectant,  his  hair  fallen 
back  from  his  forehead  in  dank  masses.  Then  he 
slowly  lifted  both  hands,  the  palms  open,  eager. 

"  If  you  are  a  person,  say  so!"  he  exclaimed.  "You 
can  see,  can  you  not  ?  You  are  not  deaf,  are  you  ? 
Since  you  made  my  ears  you  can  hear,  can't  you  ?  I 
understand,  and  you  —  you  have  sense  enough  to 
comprehend,  do  you  not  ?  Say  something.  Do  some 
thing.  I  want  to  know  you.  Here  I  am,  waiting  to 
know.  Speak  !  Act ! " 


56  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

He  held  his  hands  aloft,  his  eyes  straining  as  if 
he  would  force  a  way  for  himself  into  the  unseen, 
his  mouth  slightly  apart,  while  he  breathed  deeply, 
steadily,  as  if  he  were  running  instead  of  standing. 
"  At  least,  if  you  are  a  person,  you  can  love,"  he  whis 
pered,  not  so  low  but  that  the  ear  of  his  mother  could 
hear.  "  If  you  love  me,  say  so,  and  I  will  love  you. 
My  mother  would.  Are  you  less  than  a  woman  ?  It 
is  now  or  never !  Act !  Speak !  Here  I  am.  Do 
something,  something ! " 

To  Mitchabuna,  lying  upon  the  ground,  afraid 
almost  to  breathe,  it  seemed  as  if  hours  passed  by. 
The  great  trees  swayed  their  tops  in  the  dull  air  far 
overhead;  the  river  rolled  on  its  muddy  path  near  by 
with  a  kind  of  audible  silence,  as  of  time  it-self  flow 
ing  on.  The  shadow  of  the  recluse  slowly  shifted  as 
he  stood  motionless.  To  his  impassioned  questions 
the  only  reply  came  in  the  derisive  tu-who,  tu-who 
of  a  distant  owl.  As  the  mother  gazed  upon  her  sou 
her  heart  grew  chill.  It  seemed  to  be  impossible  for 
anything  not  cut  out  of  stone  to  stand  in  that  appeal 
ing  posture,  the  eyes  fastened  upon  the  heavens,  the 
hands  still  held  out,  so  long ! 

"He  says  I  love  him,"  the  mother  murmured  to 
herself,  "and  yet  I  lie  here  as  near  him,  yet  as  unseen 
by  him,  as  God.  Nor  do  I  think  best  to  answer  to 
his  cry  and  show  myself.  0  my  son,  God  is  within 
you  ! "  But  she  held  her  peace.  It  was  as  when  we 
behold  a  person  walking  in  his  sleep  and  dare  not 
stir  lest  we  wake  him.  For  her  life  Mitchabuna  would 
not  have  had  her  sou  know  she  was  there,  and  he 


A   STRUGGLE.  57 

continued  to  look  upward,  unconscious  of  the  fleecy 
clouds  which  came  between  him  and  the  abysmal 
blue.  But  at  last  his  face  grew  paler  as  he  did  so, 
his  eyes  grew  angry,  his  outreaching  hands  clenched 
themselves  into  fists,  he  shook  them  defiantly,  blas 
phemed,  and  fell  as  if  fainting  to  the  earth. 

It  required  strong  effort,  but  his  mother  lay  as 
motionless  as  before.  Now  she  dared  wait  no  longer 
to  see  what  would  follow.  With  wet  cheeks  she  drew 
herself  noiselessly  backward  until,  pausing  often  to 
listen,  she  could  safely  get  upon  her  feet  again.  Then 
she  hastened  back  to  the  village,  singing  to  herself, 
happier  than  she  had  been  since  the  day  she  married 
the  man  whom  she  imagined  to  be  a  god. 

Alas,  poor  soul !  in  this  case  she  knew,  if  possi 
ble,  even  less  of  her  son  than  she  then  did  of  his 
father. 

"Did  you  ever  hold  a  looking-glass  before  a  dog, 
Guernsey  ? "  Eoss  demanded  of  me  one  day  long  after 
ward. 

"  No ;  why  do  you  ask  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Try  it  with  an  ox,  say,  when  it  is  lying  down  and 
chewing  its  cud,"  Eoss  explained.  "The  thick-headed 
brute  will  chew  on,  looking  steadily  at  its  image  in  the 
glass,  regarding  it  no  more  than  if  it  were  so  much 
plank  instead.  The  dog  is  a  grade  higher.  It  recog 
nizes  that  what  it  sees  in  the  glass  is  a  dog,  and  barks 
at  and  would  fight  it,  or  recoils  from  it  with  terror 
as  from  self-recognition  too  dreadful  to  be  imagined ; 
but  it  gets,  in  doing  so,  to  the  utmost  limit  of  its  brains. 
It  has,  it  can  have,  no  idea  that  the  dog  it  se^is  is 


58  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

itself.  Guernsey,  a  dog  is  incapable  of  conceiving  of 
itself,"  Ross  added. 

"  I  have  thought  the  same  thing  about  you,"  I  an 
swered  gravely. 

"  You  have ! "  Ross  said  it  with  more  pleasure  than 
surprise.  "Well,  you  do  have  some  little  insight  into 
people,  Guernsey.  In  this  case,  at  least,  you  are  right. 
Once  in  my  life  "  —  and  I  knew  that  he  was  referring 
to  the  time  just  spoken  of — "I  set  myself  hard  at 
work  to  project  myself,  as  the  Germans  say,  so  as  to 
stand  apart  from  Ross  Urwoldt  and  see  what  sort  of  a 
fellow  he  is,  —  to  precipitate  myself,  a  chemist  would 
phrase  it,  and  analyze  the  residuum,  isn't  that  it  ?  — 
but  I  could  not  do  it.  The  harder  I  tried  to  grip 
myself,  the  more  vigorously  I  slipped  out  of  my  own 
hands,  like  an  eel.  I  could  not  grasp  myself,  and  I 
gave  up  trying.  Self-examination  is  what  theologians 
call  it ;  introspection  is  the  scientific  term.  I  know 
sickly  sort  of  men  who  at  certain  set  periods  go  in 
quest  of  themselves,  like  detectives.  Such  a  man 
hunts  for  and  chases  himself  down.  Then,  when  he 
has  got  a  firm  hold  upon  his  own  throat,  as  it  were, 
he  lifts  his  prisoner  from  the  earth,  hurls  him  down, 
kicks  and  stamps  upon  him.  That  I  never  try  to  do. 
If  I  were  to  catch  and  take  a  good  look  at  myself,  I 
am  satisfied  I  would  kill  my  mite  of  a  self !  Do  you 
understand  me  ? " 

"Certainly;  but  you  exaggerate  things." 

"  Do  I  ?  No,  I  don't.  It  is  not  that  I  look  upon 
my  inmost  self  as  wicked,  but  as  being  so  infernally 
small.  In  comparison  with  great  nature  it  is  so  small 


A  STRUGGLE.  59 

I  cannot  find  it,  can  do  very  well  without  it,  and  I 
intend  to.  You  know  how  the  Italian  gypsies  spend 
half  their  time.  Well,  if  I  were  to  search  my  rags 
for  that  vermin-self  of  mine,  the  instant  I  secured  it 
between  finger  and  thumb  I  would  crack  it  —  " 

"  Do  be  silent,  Ross  ! "  I  said.  "  How  can  you  hate 
what  you  say  you  do  not  look  for,  have  no  idea  of,  do 
not  believe  in  ?  " 

"  You  are  right,  except  for  this,  that  it  is  the  first 
time  I  have  spoken  in  that  way  to  any  one,  and  it 
shall  be  the  last.  I  once  set  apart  a  time  to  get  at 
myself,  but  I  did  n't  succeed,  I  was  too  microscopic, 
and  I  never  intend  to  try  again." 

"  I  cannot  understand  men  and  women,"  was  my 
reflection,  made  aloud.  "  There  is  Steven  Trent.  The 
one  defect  in  his  really  royal  character  is  his  emotion 
alism.  Well,  you,  Eoss,  are  yourself,  intensely  your 
self,  and  yet  you  haven't  a  particle  of  that  about 
you.  Who  and  what  are  you,  any  way  ?  No  one 
else  so  perplexes  me." 

"  Listen,  and  I  will  tell  you  a  little  story.  One 
day,  when  I  was  hunting  in  the  woods  near  Ockla- 
wahaw,  I  heard  something  crashing  toward  me  from 
the  way  the  wind  was  blowing,  and  slipped  behind 
an  oak.  By  some  stupidity  of  mine  my  rifle  was 
not  loaded,  nor  did  I  have  time  to  load  it  before  a 
buck  came  along  on  a  slow  leap.  As  it  passed,  and 
in  sheer  deviltry,  never  thinking  I  could  do  it,  I 
sprang  for  its  antlers  from  behind,  for  I  was  all  muscle 
and  sinew  and  foolhardiness  those  days.  To  my  own 
astonishment  I  got  a  grip  upon  the  base  of  the  antler 


GO  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

with  my  right  hand,  and  I  held  on  until  I  could  get 
another  with  my  left.  I  was  dragged  along  dreadfully 
until  the  buck  stumbled  and  fell,  when  I  contrived 
to  get  myself  astride  its  neck,  locking  my  feet  together 
underneath.  It  was  the  grandest  ride  I  ever  took ; 
an  unbroken  mustang  I  knew  all  about,  but  that  was 
tame  to  this.  If  I  was  to  hear  any  one  else  tell  the 
story,  I  would  believe  it  no  more  than  you  are  believ 
ing  me  now ;  but  it  is  a  fact.  I  do  not  know  how  I 
contrived  to  keep  my  hold  as  we  tore  along  through 
the  undergrowth,  almost  dragged  off  by  the  vines  a 
dozen  times.  But  I  tied  my  legs  in  a  tighter  knot 
about  its  throat,  until  I  succeeded  in  forcing  its  nose 
down  at  last  among  the  leave's  and  mud.  Then  I 
got  my  knife  out  with  my  left  hand,  for  I  have  learned 
to  use  either,  while  I  held  on  with  my  right,  and 
struck  through  a  white  spot  between  the  shoulders 
and  to  the  heart.  After  I  had  done  it  I  lay,  my  legs 
still  about  its  neck  and  deluged  with  blood,  for  I 
don't  know  how  long,  and  almost  as  dead  as  it  was. 
I  would  not  try  to  do  it  again,  but  was  glad  I  was 
fool  enough  to  attempt  it  then.  This  illustrates  what 
I  was  saying." 

"  And  quite  clearly,"  I  assented ;  "  but  Tennyson  is 
before  you.     He  has  already  told  of  the  youth 

'  Who  rode  a  horse  that  would  have  flown, 
But  that  his  heavy  rider  kept  him  down,' 

except  that,  in  your  instance,  it  was  a  buck.  You 
are  right.  It  is  thus  that  the  body  gets  astride  the 
soul,  struggle  as  it  will.  But  Heaven  forbid  —  " 


A   STRUGGLE.  61 

.     "  That  the  rider  should  succeed  at  last  in  riding 
down  his  soul,  in  driving  his  knife  into  it  ?  " 

"  You  cannot  do  it ! "  I  exclaimed.  "  Eemernber 
the  saying  of  gallant  Sir  Walter, 

'  Stab  at  the  soul  who  will, 
No  stab  the  soul  can  kill.'  " 

"Very  true  —  in  poetry,  but,"  Eoss  Urwoldt  re 
marked  coolly,  "  I  am  speaking  of  fact.  It  so  happens 
that,  in  my  case,  the  youth  did  more  than  master  his 
Pegasus  from  flying  away  with  him  into  the  clouds. 
As  I  put  my  knife  into  the  heart  of  the  buck  and 
made  an  end  of  his  capers,  so  I  did  then  and  there 
with  what  metaphysicians  style  the  inner  self,  the 
soul.  You  need  not  have  such  a  horrified  look, 
Guernsey.  One  day — no,  it  took  a  week  or  two  —  I 
had  it  out,  as  I  have  told  you,  with  my  inner  self. 
I  talk  upon  such  things  to  no  one  else,  and  I  will 
grant  you  that,  for  a  time,  my  inner  self,  as  you 
style  it,  proved  to  be  rather  a  tough  customer ;  but  I 
ended  the  thing  then,  and  once  for  all." 

"Yes,  it  is  in  your  blood,"  I  said  sadly.  "You 
make  so  furious  an  onset  to  begin  with,  that  when 
you  do  not  conquer  in  the  first  rush  you  recoil  in 
utter  defeat.  I  had  hoped  you  were  a  stronger 
man." 

"  Guernsey,"  my  friend  replied,  "  by  reason  of  my 
birth  and  training  I  am  not  a  creature,  like  yourself* 
of  tradition,  custom,  convention.  I  am  a  perfectly 
natural,  not  an  artificial,  man.  That  there  seems  to 
be  a  struggle,  as  between  an  unborn  Esau  and  Jacob, 


62  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

in  every  man,  I  acknowledge.  It  may  be  the  conflict 
of  the  man  with  the  foolish  fancies  he  has  heard  from 
infancy.  My  own  idea  is  that  it  is  the  uneven  action 
of  the  right-hand  lobe  of  the  brain  and  the  left ;  the 
one  lobe  gets  to  acting  faster  than  the  other,  gets 
upon  a  contradictory  train  of  thinking  —  who  can 
explain  it  ?  For  my  part  I  am  sick  of  introspection. 
I  tried  it  there  in  the  Ockla\vahaw  woods  as  faithfully 
as  Thomas  &  Kempis  could  have  done.  Luther 
attempted  it  in  his  cell  until  they  had  to  break  down 
his  door  and  drag  him  out  half  starved,  unconscious, 
almost  dead ;  but  he  could  not  have  tried  harder  than 
I  did.  I  am  too  healthy  a  fellow  for  anything  of  the 
sort.  You  want  me  to  believe  that  I  have  in  me  a 
mammoth  Kentucky  cave,  and  that  I  must  go  crawl 
ing  and  groping  about  in  the  pitch  darkness  of  it  on 
my  hands  and  knees,  and  I  won't  do  it !  I  prefer  to 
walk  outside  in  broad  day.  You  would  have  me 
eternally  winding  myself  like  a  tapeworm  through 
my  own  bowels,  and  I  won't !  Guernsey  ? " 

He  had  grown  very  serious.  He  looked  at  me 
with  his  steady  eyes,  and  spoke  almost  sadly :  "  If  ever 
a  fellow  tried  to  get  at  the  unseen,  I  did  when  I  went 
back  from  college.  Others  may  succeed,  I  cannot ! 
For  my  life  I  can't  get  beyond  what  I  see  and  hear, 
smell,  taste,  and  feel.  Nature  is  big  enough,  beautiful 
enough,  for  me.  I  can't  get  beyond  it,  and  I  don't 
want  to.  You  may  whirl  about  in  the  empty  air 
with  the  torn-tits  if  you  wish ;  I  prefer  to  walk 
instead,  and  on  solid  ground.  You  can  take  the 
ghosts,  and  I  will  remain  satisfied  with  men  and 


A   STRUGGLE.  63 

women  instead.  Whenever  I  hear  people  wrangling 
about  things  unseen  —  " 

"  Gravitation,  for  instance,"  I  suggested. 

"  About  what  is  called  spiritual  things,  it  reminds 
me,"  he  persisted,  "  of  children  —  did  you  ever  hold 
out  your  hands  when  a  child,  and  whirl  round  and 
round  until  you  were  so  dizzy  you  couldn't  walk 
straight  when  you  stopped  ?  If  you  are  fond  of  such 
things,  go  ahead.  - 1  find  too  much  to  do,  too  much 
to  satisfy  me,  without  going  into  that,  and  I  won't 
do  it.  You  have  told  me  once  or  twice  that  I  was  the 
finest  animal  you  had  seen  inside  or  out  of  the  Zo 
ological  Gardens.  Very  well,  I  am  content.  Good- 
by!" 

But  I  could  not  let  him  off  in  that  way.  "  Some 
men,"  I  said,  "  bore  for  oil  through  iron  rock ;  others 
strike  down  a  thousand  feet  through  the  strata  for 
gold.  What  I  aim  at  in  every  study,  as  in  my  dealing 
with  every  man,  is  to  get  at  the  central  fact  of  things, — 
the  one,  chief,  absolute  certainty ;  everything  else  is 
mere  drapery,  if  not  trash.  Now,  my  fine  fellow," 
I  added,  "  when  I  grasp  at  things  above  me,  the  one, 
about  the  only,  certainty  I  lay  hold  upon  is  the  Person 
who  made  and  rules  me ;  when  I  grope  within  me,  the 
solid  certainty  I  get  my  grip  upon,  in  the  dust  and 
darkness,  is  that  soul  within  me  which  is  my  eter 
nal  self.  First,  the  everlasting  God  ;  second  only  to 
him,  my  everlasting  self,  —  these  are  the  supreme  cer 
tainties." 

"  To  you,  not  to  me,"  he  replied. 

My  friend  was  as  sensitive  to  an  insult  as  any  man. 


64  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

He  was  quicker  with  a  blow  than  most  men.  None 
the  less,  having  him  so  completely  against  himself 
now,  I  risked  whatever  might  come. 

"  Boss,"  I  had  him  by  the  sleeve,  meeting  the  al 
most  savage  and  animal  steadiness  of  his  black  eyes, 

—  "  Ross,"  I  said,  "  there  is  an  old  author  who  declares 
of  the  man  who  says,  even  in  his  heart,  there  is  no 
God,  that  such  a  man  is  a  fool.     If  you  say  that  you 
are  sure  there  is  neither  Maker  nor  soul,  if  you  say 

—  listen  to  me  —  that  you  are  satisfied  to  live  with 
out  either,  then  are  you  an  immeasurable  —  yes,  liar ; 
and  no  man  knows  that  as  well  as  you ! " 


PEKSIS  PAIGE.  65 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

PERSIS   PAIGE. 

IN  the  earlier  days  of  his  arrival  in  Ocklawahaw,  and 
when  he  was  seeking  to  establish  himself  therein, 
Gerald  Urwoldt  had  done  more  than  any  one  there 
toward  building  the  church  ;  but  he  had  not  considered 
it  necessary  to  go  beyond  that  and  see  to  the  putting 
up  of  a  parsonage  also,  as  he  had  promised  to  do. 
Why  should  he  do  so  when  Parson  Williams,  eager 
as  a  child  in  regard  to  the  church,  cared  nothing  for  a 
house  for  himself  ?  And  so  the  old  man  continued 
to  live  in  the  double  log  cabin  behind  the  sanctuary, 
in  which  he  had  made  his  home  and  his  school  too, 
until  the  academy  was  built,  from  his  first  coming. 
It  had  never  been  a  good  structure,  even  for  a  log 
cabin.  A  tall  man  could  not  do  much  more  than  get 
in  at  the  doors,  they  were  so  low  ;  but  the  missionary 
had  formed  such  a  habit  of  ducking  his  head  on  enter 
ing  that  he  would  have  done  so  had  the  doorway  been 
twenty  feet  high  instead.  There  was  no  difficulty 
in  his  towering  to  his  full  height  when  inside,  as 
the  two  rooms  and  a  hall  between,  which  composed 
the  building,  were  open  to  the  cypress  shingles  over 
head.  But  the  "  chinking  "  of  blocks  of  wood,  daubed 
inside  and  out  with  mud  to  fill  up  the  spaces  between 

5 


66  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

the  logs,  had  dried  up  and  fallen  out  in  many  places. 
Like  the  doorways,  the  windows  were  out  of  plumb, 
and  it  was  almost  as  hard  work  to  lift  a  window  as  it 
was  to  persuade  the  heavy  clapboard  doors  to  open 
upon  their  oaken  hinges ;  for  the  cabin  rested  upon 
eight  two-foot  posts,  one  at  the  corner  of  each  "  pen," 
and  they  were  sadly  rotten.  The  chimneys  were 
built  of  logs  to  the  level  of  those  composing  the 
rooms,  and  were  completed  up  and  beyond  the  clap 
board  gables  with  sticks,  the  whole  daubed  with  plen 
tiful  mud ;  but  the  chimneys  had  parted  company 
with  the  walls  outside,  and  were  reeling  away  to  their 
fall.  The  floors  were  "  puncheon,"  that  is,  of  logs  split 
in  two,  the  level  side  upward ;  and  it  required  some 
skill  to  walk  over  them,  they  rocked  so  beneath  the 
'tread,  the  wind  coming  up  anywhere  between.  This 
last  was  an  advantage  in  which  the  home  of  old  Par 
son  Williams  surpassed  many  of  the  stateliest  struc 
tures  in  the  land,  —  it  was  thoroughly  ventilated; 
the  most  fastidious  Board  of  Health  could  have  found 
no  lack  of  that.  A  remarkable  thing  about  the  build 
ing  was  that  what  had  not  taken  more  than  a  week  to 
erect  should  have  lasted  half  a  century,  —  the  most  re 
markable  thing,  unless  it  was  that  an  edifice  so  miser 
able  should  have  sheltered  hearts  happier  than  are 
often  housed  in  the  palaces  of  kings.  The  cabin  was 
a  miracle  somewhat  like  that  of  the  barley  loaves,  not 
merely  in  this,  that  a  tiling  so  mean  should  have  held 
out  so  well,  but  that,  in  this  case  also,  the  recipients 
were  filled  thereby  and  satisfied.  The  cabin  itself 
could  not  have  known  this,  or  it  would  not  have  striven 


PEXSIS  PAIGE.  67 

so  to  hide  itself  behind  the  church,  weather-boarded 
and  painted  white  by  the  missionary's  own  hands, 
which  stood  before  and  within  twenty  yards  of  it. 

One  night,  some  time  after  the  close  of  the  Big 
Meetings,  old  Mr.  Williams  sat  with  Persis  in  one  of 
the  two  rooms  of  the  cabin.  The  meetings,  and  the 
results  thereof,  had  given  him  such  an  impulse  that 
he  was  full  of  his  new  life.  The  fact  is,  the  good  old 
man  had  acquired  such  habit  from  long  use,  and  of 
late  such  fresh  impetus,  in  preaching  and  exhorting, 
that  it  was  not  easy  for  him  to  cease  even  when,  as 
now,  his  audience  was  merely  his  granddaughter. 
He  had  been  telling  her  how  dismayed  he  was  when 
he  first  came  to  Ocklawahaw  as  a  young  and  unmar 
ried  missionary.  Then  followed  the  oft-repeated  story 
of  how  he  had  gone  back  to  the  East,  had  selected  a 
wife  out  of  a  Female  Institute  for  the  very  purpose, 
and  how  she  had  come  to  Ocklawahaw  to  labor  with 
him. 

Persis  was  kneading  dough  at  the  table  near  by 
while  her  grandfather  talked.  It  was  a  large  batch 
of  dough,  for  he  lived  chiefly  upon  bread ;  her  arms 
were  not  strong,  and  she  panted  from  her  exertion. 
Then  the  old  man  told  her  about  the  one  child  who 
was  born  to  them,  Persis,  the  mother  of  the  girl,  —  of 
what  a  help  she  was  to  them  until  she  married  a 
young  neighbor  of  theirs,  a  raiser  of  stock. 

Persis  was  breaking  off  bits  of  dough,  rolling  them 
into  biscuit,  and  putting  them  in  a  pan  to  rise  over 
night  for  the  baking  of  the  morning.  "And  they 
would  get  married  ! "  she  said. 


68  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"Yes,"  her  grandfather  sighed;  "your  father  was  a 
handsome  young  fellow,  and,  having  done  all  I  could 
against  it,  I  was  obliged  at  last  to  marry  them.  Your 
mother  seemed  to  be  very  happy  at  first.  They  went 
on  a  ranch  twenty  miles  out  on  the  prairie,  and  you 
were  born  in  this  room,  for  your  mother  came  in  then. 
Every  now  and  then  after  that,  Persis  —  she  was  our 
first  Persis,  you  know  —  would  ride  in  from  the  ranch 
on  a  horse,  you  in  her  lap,  and  a  basket  of  eggs  for  us 
hooked  by  the  handle  on  the  horn  of  her  old  saddle. 
It  went  on  that  way  for  three  or  four  years.  No,"  the 
old  missionary  said,  "  Jerome  Paige  did  not  drink,  did 
not  gamble,  was  kind  to  his  wife,  and  loved  his  child. 
And  he  was  as  industrious  as  a  man  who  rides  around 
all  the  time,  looking  after  his  cattle,  branding  his 
calves,  can  be.  But  it  was  the  most  natural  tiling  in 
the  world,  Persis,  my  child,  when  the  neighbors  came 
bringing  the  baby,  —  that  was  you,  Persis,  for  you  al 
ways  seemed  a  baby  until  after  that,  —  bringing  you 
and  your  mother  and  your  father  in  the  wagon.  Your 
father  had  been  pitched  over  the  head  of  a  bucking 
mustang,  or  it  was  by  his  mustang  stumbling  in  a  hog 
wallow  of  the  prairie,  nobody  ever  knew  which ;  but 
his  neck  was  broken.  It  seemed  as  natural  for  him 
to  end  in  that  way  as  it  is  for  a  bubble  to  burst 
when  it  is  touched.  I  won't  speak  evil  of  your 
father,  Persis,  for  you  look  so  much  like  him  too ;  but 
there  was  nothing  in  him,  he  had  no  purpose  in  life, 
because  he  never  could  come  to  have  any  idea  about 
anything  except  his  cows  and  calves  and  horses,  — 
had  no  faith,  as  your  grandmother  said.  Ah  me ! 
you  do  look  very  much  like  him,  dear." 


PERSIS  PAIGE.  69 

His  grandchild  had  put  her  bread  in  the  pan  ready 
for  the  morning,  placing  it  on  a  stool  in  a  corner 
of  the  gaping  fireplace,  with  a  clean  towel  over  it. 
Then  she  got  her  books  and  sat  down  to  study.  She 
was  quite  grave ;  but  that  was  partly  because  she  was 
wearied  with  the  work  of  a  day  which  had  begun  at 
dawn,  and  which  had  not  known  a  moment's  rest 
since.  Her  grandfather  had  sunk  into  deep  thought. 
With  his  hands  asleep  as  it  were  upon  the  pages  in 
which  he  himself  found  all  his  repose,  he  saw  in  the 
coals  upon  the  hearthstone  the  persons  of  whom  he 
had  been  speaking. 

"  Mother  and  I,  we  lived  with  you  after  that  ? " 
Persis  asked,  while  she  found  the  place  in  her  gram 
mar  where  she  had  left  off.  The  old  man  returned  to 
her  slowly,  toiling  up  to  her  from  the  days  a  dozen 
years  before. 

"  Yes,  my  child,"  he  said  gravely,  "  and  we  were 
more  than  glad  to  have  you.  But  your  mother  never 
got  over  it.  Her  life  was  broken." 

"  You  mean  her  heart,  grandpa." 

"  No ;  her  heart  was  only  part  of  it :  it  was  her  life 
which  was  broken  in  two,"  the  other  added  with 
almost  stern  emphasis.  "  Up  to  the  day  she  fell  in 
love  with  that  good-looking  Jerome  Paige,"  he  went 
on,  "  she  had  a  steady  object  in  life.  I  never  knew 
a  brighter  girl  than  your  mother,  Persis.  She  had 
learned  to  read  before  she  was  three  years  old. 
Whenever  she  was  not  helping  about  the  house,  she 
was  reading  or  ciphering.  She  was  only  a  child  when 
she  began  to  aid  us  first  in  the  Sunday  school  and 


70  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

then  in  the  day  school.  I  almost  feared  she  had  a 
sinful  ambition,  she  studied  so  hard.  She  saved  all 
the  money  she  could,  and  sent  East  for  books  and 
papers.  Then  she  wrote  letters  to  interest  people 
abroad  in  the  Eeservation ;  and  they  sent  her  books 
on  books  for  herself  as  well  as  for  the  children.  I 
never  knew  a  girl  improve  as  she  did.  '  If  I  had 
the  money  I  would  send  her  East  and  to  school  at 
your  Institute,'  I  told  your  grandmother  one  day. 
'  There  would  be  no  use  in  it,'  your  grandma  said, 
'for  she  already  knows,  unless  it  is  boarding-school 
manners,  all  they  could  teach  her.'  Persis,  your 
mother  had  learned  to  read  Latin.  She  could  trans 
late  a  chapter  in  the  Greek  Testament  far  better  than 
I  could.  She  had  come  across  my  old  books,  you  see. 
I  used  to  read  the  languages,  but  had  grown  rusty  out 
here.  Persis,  your  mother,"  the  old  man  went  on, 
"  was  superior  to  my  wife,  but  she  was  not  as  devoted 
a  Christian.  She  lived  in  a  different  time,  you 
know." 

"  A  different  time  ? " 

"  Yes,  my  child,  sixty  years  ago  the  people  about 
us  were  savages  of  the  wilderness  ;  their  women  some 
thing  lower  still.  They  were  ignorant,  the  squaws 
especially,  and  more  cruel  than  beasts.  Now  they  are 
becoming  civilized,  and,  I  hope,  Christian  nien  and 
women ;  and  the  next  generation  will  be  as  much  in 
advance  of  these  as  these  are  of  their  parents.  Look 
at  Koss  Urwoldt :  you  cannot  imagine  that  his  ances 
tors  were  taught  when  boys  to  cut  open  an  enemy's 
bosom  after  a  battle,  to  tear  out  the  heart  and  bite  off 


PERSIS  PAIGE.  71 

and  eat  the  point  of  it  to  make  them  brave,  yet  that 
was  so !  So  it  is  with  everybody ;  we  are  superior 
to  our  ancestors,  our  children  will  be  superior  to 
us.  When  I  was  born  there  was  not  a  railroad  nor 
a  Sunday  school  in  the  land ; "  and  at  some  length 
he  told  of  the  progress  made  in  discovery,  invention, 
schools,  charitable  societies,  donations  to  benevolent 
objects. 

"  Now,  all  advance,"  the  shrewd  old  man  added,  "  is 
by  the  rising  of  the  man,  the'  woman,  to  a  pitch  higher 
than  that  of  the  father,  the  mother.  Your  mother 
was  superior  to  your  grandmother,  greatly  superior  in 
most  things.  And,  Persis  ? " 

"  Yes,  grandpa." 

"  You  must  make  yourself  greatly  in  advance  of 
your  mother.  If  men  are  improving  generation  after 
generation,  women,  —  and  it  is  God's  most  wonderful 
providence  of  all,  —  women  are  advancing  much  more 
rapidly.  Rich  people  are  building  magnificent  col 
leges  for  them,  colleges  in  comparison  to  which  your 
grandmother's  Institute  was  but  a  poor  little  school. 
God  has  some  great  work  for  them  to  do,  perhaps 
greater  than  that  ever  given  to  men ;  everywhere  people 
are  coining  to  see  that.  They  tell  me  that  women  are 
becoming  artists,  doctors,  writers,  heads  of  charitable 
institutions  of  all  kinds.  I  don't  understand  it,  my 
dear.  On  some  accounts  I  do  not  like  it,  not  at  all. 
But  it  seems  to  be  the  will  of  God.  The  reason  I  tell 
you  all  this  is  that  I  have  no  one  but  you.  I  want 
you  to  get  up  early,  to  study  hard,  to  have  a  purpose 
in  life,  and  all  for  God." 


72  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Having  said  which,  the  old  man  wandered  off  int, 
the  oft-repeated  story  of  the  death  of  his  wife  and 
then  of  the  mother  of  Persis. 

"  Since  you  were  a  little  bit  of  girl,"  he  added, 
"  you  have  had  to  try  and  take  the  place  of  both  of 
them.  It  seems  hard,  but  that  is  the  will  of  God.  I 
mean  that,  in  these  days,  double  duty  is  given  to 
women.  You  are  a  good  girl,  Persis,  and  have  done 
all  you  could." 

If  he  had  not  feared  to  spoil  his  granddaughter,  he 
would  have  added  aloud  what  he  said  only  to  himself, 
"  Yes,  and  you  may  be  as  much  superior  to  your  mother 
as  she  was  to  hers ;  at  least,  so  I  think."  All  he  did 
say  was,  "The  times  are  changed.  It  is  a  broader 
world  these  days,  and  it  needs  men  and  especially 
women  to  match  it.  Do  your  best,  my  dear." 

Her  grandfather  had  often  talked  to  her  in  the  same 
way,  and  after  he  was  gone  to  bed  Persis  sat  thinking 
it  all  over,  as  often  before.  She  was  too  young  to  be 
so  dealt  with.  Her  work  was  beyond  her  strength 
already.  "  If  I  could  keep  free  from  the  chills  and 
fever,  I  would  grow  faster,"  she  said  to  herself.  "  Is 
it  wicked  to  be  so  tired  when  night  comes  ?  "  But  it 
was  late  before  she  crept  to  bed. 

None  the  less  was  she  up  earlier  than  usual  the 
next  morning.  She  milked  the  cow,  cooked  the  sim 
ple  breakfast,  fed  the  pigs,  gathered  up  the  eggs  in 
the  tumble-down  stable,  did  some  washing  of  dishes 
and  clothes,  sewed  a  little.  Her  feet  moved  as  swiftly 
as  her  hands ;  but  it  was  not  until  her  grandfather 
had  eaten  his  dinner  and  gone  out  to  visit  a  dying 


PERSIS  PAIGE.  73 

woman  that,  after  a  bit  of  churning  and  scrubbing, 
she  could  sit  down.  While  she  was  drying  her  hands 
at  last  upon  the  coarse  roller  towel,  her  eyes  were 
devouring  her  books  on  the  shelf  near  by.  Taking 
her  little  stool  under  the  window,  she  put  her  hair 
away  from  her  eyes,  and  bent  over  the  well-thumbed 
volumes  at  what  was  at  once  the  hardest  and  most 
delightful  work  of  all.  Her  recitations  were  to  her 
grandfather  after  supper  was  over,  and  he  helped  her 
as  he  and  she  found  opportunity  during  the  day. 
This  afternoon  she  applied  herself  with  renewed  en 
ergy.  She  was  too  young  for  that  also,  but  somehow, 
even  while  studying,  the  story  of  her  father  and  mother 
ran  parallel  with  the  parsing.  Her  mother  had  done 
very  wrong  to  marry  the  young  stock-raiser.  There 
was  Ross  Urwoldt.  He  never  thought  of  her,  of  course, 
but  if  he  ever  should,  she  would  never  think  of  him, 
never  !  Then  she  scolded  herself  for  such  nonsense, 
and  studied  harder  than  before. 


74  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

NEW  INFLUENCES. 

"  T  HAD  a  time  of  it  when  I  got  back  to  Ocklawa- 
••"  haw  —  with  my  mother,  I  mean,"  Ross  Urwoldt 
explained  to  me  long  afterward.  "She  was  glad  I 
was  back  in  time  for  the  Big  Meetings,  but,  after  they 
had  passed  by,  she  was  sorry  again.  More  sorry 
every  day.  She  had  hoped  I  would  take  a  full  course 
at  Old  Orange,  and  become  a  sort  of  missionary  to 
our  people,  —  you  would  hardly  suppose  a  mother 
could  be  that  much  mistaken  in  her  own  son  !"  Ross 
laughed  as  he  said  it,  but  I  was  not  amused  nor  was 
he.  "  She  said  nothing,"  Ross  went  on  ;  "  but  had  I 
been  brought  back  in  a  box,  a  corpse,  she  would  have 
sorrowed  so  much  less  that  in  that  case  she  would 
have  wept  herself  out  over  me  and  have  been  done 
with  it." 

Ross  rarely  alluded,  even  with  me,  to  his  mother  and 
never  to  his  father.  I  could  easily  see  that  poor 
Mitchabuna  had,  in  the  expulsion  from  college  of  her 
son,  the  sudden  shock  as  of  coming  all  at  once  to  see 
that  Ross  was,  after  all,  to  be  his  talented,  worthless 
father  over  again.  But  while  I  thought  this,  Ross 
was  saying :  "  There  was  but  one  thing  for  me  to  do. 
I  have  told  you  of  one  of  my  expeditions  into  the 


NEW  INFLUENCES.  75 

forest,  but  that  was  only  one  of  many.  Every  week 
or  two  I  took  my  rifle,  a  knapsack  full  of  provisions, 
and  broke  for  the  woods.  My  dogs  had  gone  crazy 
with  delight  on  my  return,  but  I  fastened  them  up 
from  following  me.  I  had  an  old  mare,  Maggie 
by  name,  who  had  been  a  sort  of  mother  to  me  from 
the  time  I  was  a  boy.  She  came  capering  about  rne 
those  bright  November  days,  as  lively  as  a  girl,  mak 
ing  believe  she  was  as  young  as  ever,  whinnying  and 
rubbing  her  old  nose  about  my  shoulder  to  induce  me 
to  take  her,  but  I  would  n't,  and  pelted  her  back  from 
coming  after  me.  I  was  savage.  Everything  was 
black  as  night.  The  river  was  up,  and  it  moved 
between  the  snow-covered  banks  like  a  big  snake, 
purple  from  overfeeding,  sluggish,  slimy,  winding  on 
its  way  to  do  whatever  mischief  it  could  down  South. 
Dante  put  the  mouth,  you  remember,  Guernsey,  of 
his  '  Inferno '  in  a  dense  forest.  But  he  never  saw  a 
forest  like  ours  at  Ocklawahaw.  The  trees  are  woven 
together  with  great  vines,  the  moss  hanging  so  rank 
from  the  boughs  that  the  wind  cannot  get  at  the 
malaria,  nor  the  sun  either.  When  I  went  on  my 
expeditions  I  sank  almost  to  my  knees  at  every  step 
in  the  dead  leaves  coated  with  snow.  The  worse  it 
was  the  more  I  enjoyed  it." 

Now,  if  Ross  had  been  in  the  habit  of  talking  in 
that  way  to  people  in  general,  I  should  have  known 
that  he  was  a  humbug.  As  I  well  knew,  I  was  the 
one  man  living  to  whom  he  did  thus  talk.  I  doubt 
if  he  cared  to  think  of  such  things  when  away  from 
me.  If  he  had  made  a  custom  of  moralizing  in  that 


76  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

style  with  me,  even  while  I  loved  the  man,  I  should 
have  despised  him,  as  one  does  the  sham  heroes  of  all 
grades  who  weep  aloud  in  order  to  be  wept  over,  pre 
cisely  as  clowns  in  a  circus  laugh  in  their  queer  coats 
and  daubed  cheeks  in  order  to  be  laughed  at,  pennies 
of  some  sort  to  be  paid  at  the  door  in  both  cases. 
But  Ross  Urwoldt  was  not  of  that  kind.  He  was 
thoroughly  sincere,  with  me  at  least,  and  I  rated,  as 
well  as  loved,  him  higher  than  I  do  many  a  better 
man. 

"Your  hell  was  in  you,  not  in  the  dank  forest. 
Otherwise,"  I  said,  "  you  would  not  have  gone  there. 
But  you  were  going  to  tell  me,  you  said  an  hour  ago, 
about  Governor  Beauchamp." 

"  Wait  a  moment.  I  had  been  lifted  out  of  being 
a  half-Indian  when  I  went  to  Old  Orange.  Bather," 
Ross  said,  "  I  had  climbed  up  that  high  out  of  Ockla- 
wahaw  and  savagery  by  my  own  effort.  Up  to  the 
moment  I  found  myself  surrounded  that  evening  in 
college  by  the  fellows,  wild  for  a  little  fun,  all  I 
cared  for  on  earth  was  to  climb  higher.  You  know 
how  it  was.  What  with  the  bugle  and  drum,  the 
tutors  hammering  at  the  doors  and  the  fellows  about 
you  begging  you  to  take  the  lead,  weariness  with  years 
of  steady  study  and  Nature  itself  boiling  in  my  veins, 
what  could  I  do  but  go  crazy  ?  It  was  my  fault,  of 
course.  I  had  lifted  myself  that  high  with  my  own 
hands,  and  with  my  own  hands  I  dashed  myself  down. 
It  all  lies  in  mere  circumstance,  Guernsey,  circum 
stance  contained  in  a  minute,  circum —  " 

"  Circumstance  to  be  grappled  with,"  I  interrupted 


NEW  INFLUENCES.  77 

him,  "  in  the  instant,  and  mastered  as  you  would  a 
\vild-cat  leaping  upon  you.  But  go  on,  go  on." 

"  A  wild-cat  ?  Do  you  know,  Guernsey,"  Ross  said, 
"  I  saw  one  in  the  forks  of  a  pecan  the  first  day  I 
took  to  the  woods.  My  rifle  went  to  nay  shoulder  as 
of  itself,  I  had  n't  had  a  chance  for  a  shot  so  long ; 
but  just  as  I  was  about  putting  a  bullet  between  its 
eyes  I  lowered  the  rifle.  '  Not  a  bit  of  it ! '  I  said, '  we 
are  too  near  of  kin,  old  fellow ;  it  would  be  murder. 
No ;  you  go  ahead,  bite  your  best,  fight,  squall,  scratch  ! 
What  do  I  care  ? '  Would  you  believe  it,  Guernsey,  I 
blazed  away  after  that  at  every  blue-jay  I  saw,  catbird, 
woodpecker.  I  had  to  kill  deer  for  my  food,  of  course ; 
but  whenever  I  saw  a  gray  squirrel  sitting  out  on  the 
Hmb  of  a  tall  tree,  its  tail  curved  over  its  head,  a  nut 
between  its  paws,  its  bright  eye  glancing  about,  letting 
down  a  fore-paw  now  and  then  to  listen  —  crack !  my 
ball  would  strike  the  limb  under  it,  and  it  would 
whirl  high  into  the  air  and  come  down  to  the  ground 
with  a  thud  !  I  did  not  know  I  could  be  such  a  sav 
age.  If  I  had  struggled  up  and  out  a  little,  I  had 
taken  myself  by  the  shoulders,  as  with  both  hands, 
and  dashed  myself  down  deeper  than  I  had  been 
before." 

"  Well  ? "  I  said ;  for  while  I  sympathized  with  him 
I  showed  the  nature  of  my  sympathy  by  the  way  I 
laughed  at  his  stern  face. 

"  That  is  all !  I  had  plenty  of  powder  and  balls, 
and,  although  I  was  weeks  about  it  off  and  on,  there 
in  the  woods,  I  fired  my  wrath  at  myself  away  with 
my  ammunition.  But,  Guernsey,  there  was  not  a  bul- 


78  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

let  that  was  not  aimed  really  at  myself.  What  a  sav 
age  loves  best  is  to  kill,  kill  !  Only  it  was  myself  I  — 
Oh,  that  is  all ! "  and  I  saw  that  he  had  regretted  say 
ing  anything.  I  made  no  reply.  What  I  never  do  is 
to  preach ;  when  a  man's  own  conscience  is  in  the 
pulpit,  I  would  be  a  fool  to  try  to  take  its  place. 

"  But  what  about  Beaucharnp  ? "  I  asked. 

"  After  I  settled  down  at  last  from  my  expeditions 
into  the  woods,  I  went,"  Ross  told  me,  "to  studying 
again  under  Amasa  Clarke.  He  had  remained  all  this 
time  in  Ocklawahaw  teaching.  They  had  made  him 
President  at  last  of  the  academy.  He  was  about 
the  same  man,  except  that  he  weighed  a  good  deal 
more.  The  more  there  was  of  him  the  less  I  liked 
him,  even  then.  But  I  went  to  work  —  for  I  had 
brought  back  the  text-books  of  the  whole  college 
course  —  like  a  savage,  with  a  sort  of  ferocity  in  that 
direction,  too.  I  almost  frightened  Clarke,  but  I 
grew  at  last  to  be  as  quiet  and  silent  as  need  be. 
How  I  studied !  It  \vas  partly  from  the  necessity  of 
being  occupied,  partly  from  love  of  books,  chiefly  be 
cause  I  knew  it  would  please  my  mother." 

"  But  Governor  Beauchamp  ? "  I  asked.  "You  were 
going  to  tell  me  how  you  came  to  know  him." 

"Was  I?  Well,  I  had  heard  of  the  Governor," 
Ross  said,  "  since  I  could  remember.  He  was  a  poor 
boy  somewhere,  who  had  managed  to  fight  his  way 
upward,  until  he  obtained  an  appointment  to  West 
Point.  From  there  he  went  as  an  army  officer  to  take 
charge  of  the  Seminoles  in  Florida.  After  living 
among  them  and  drinking  hard,  it  was  said,  for  so 


NEW  INFLUENCES.  79 

many  years  that  he  became  himself  almost  a  savage, 
he  suddenly  resigned  and  went  into  the  practice  of 
law  and  politics  in  the  State  next  to  our  Reservation. 
There  lie  engaged  in  a  duel  or  two,  a  street-fight  or  so. 
Then  he  was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  after  that  to 
Congress.  One  peculiarity  of  Beaucharnp  was  that 
he  was  either  very  popular  or  the  most  thoroughly 
execrated  of  men.  Defeated  for  Congress  at  the  next 
election,  he  came  back  to  the  State,  and  married  the 
daughter  of  a  planter  who  died  when  Rachel,  her  only 
child,  was  a  few  years  old.  For  a  while  he  gave  him 
self  up  to  dissipation.  Whether  popular  or  the  reverse, 
he  was  always  pressed  for  money.  It  was  little  he 
cared,  for  his  daughter  grew  up  on  the  plantation 
under  the  care  of  her  aunt,  and  General  Beauchamp, 
as  he  was  then  styled,  did  as  he  pleased. 

"  It  is  too  long  a  story  to  tell,"  Ross  continued, 
"but  in  some  way  he  was  smitten  by  another  gust  of 
popularity,  and  sent  back  to  Congress,  to  the  lower 
House.  So  popular  did  he  become  that  he  was  elected, 
after  a  tour  of  vigorous  stump-speaking,  to  the  Senate. 
Then  came  another  period  of  unpopularity ;  no  man 
was  so  heartily  cursed  throughout  his  State  as  he. 
It  is  wearisome  to  tell,  but  after  this  came  a  period 
of  restoration  to  favor.  It  was  like  a  cyclone,  and  he 
was  made  Governor  of  his  State  almost  by  acclamation. 
Heaven  knows  why,  but  in  a  few  months  thereafter 
he  resigned,  and  disappeared  from  the  knowledge  of 
men. 

"All  my  life,"  Ross  added,  "I  had  heard  of  him. 
The  papers  made  such  constant  mention  of  him,  for 


80  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

and  against,  always  with  vehemence,  that  from  a  boy 
I  considered  him  the  greatest  of  men.  The  people  of 
Ocklawahaw  were  constantly  coming  and  going,  and 
they  sat  about  my  father's  warehouse  on  goods-boxes, 
whittling  cypress  shingles,  cracking  pecans,  chewing 
tobacco,  smoking  by  the  hour.  They  had  much  to 
say  about  General  Beauchamp,  what  he  did  and  said 
in  Washington,  his  speeches,  his  fine  horses,  his  virtues, 
his  rascalities.  With  some  he  was  a  scoundrel,  with 
others  he  was  a  patriot  and  a  statesman,  but  with  all 
he  was  a  hero.  You  have  to  live  in  such  a  section  to 
know  how  utterly  one  man  can  be  the  standard,  can 
fill  the  talk  of  its  people.  Cotton,  corn,  horse,  whiskey, 
dollar,  Governor  Beauchamp,  —  the  language  seemed 
to  be  made  up  of  those  words.  There  was  no  man  I 
had  heard  so  much  about,  was  so  anxious  to  see. 

"  All  this,"  Eoss  continued,  "  was  up  to  the  time  of 
my  return  from  college.  The  Big  Meetings  were  long 
past,  I  hunted  now  only  of  fine  afternoons,  and  had 
gone  to  hard  study.  It  was  very  rarely  that  I  went 
into  the  village.  One  hot  afternoon  I  had  to  go  to 
my  father's  store  for  something,  —  to  mail  a  letter  to 
you,  I  think  it  was,  for  the  store  was  also  the  post- 
office.  As  I  approached  it,  I  heard  a  loud,  slow, 
steady  voice  as  of  some  one  rather  reading  aloud  than 
making  a  speech.  The  building  was  crowded  with 
people,  but  the  first  thing  which  struck  me  as  I  went 
in  was  to  see  a  large  man  seated  upon  the  counter 
which  ran  across  the  great  room  at  the  other  end. 
In  front  of  him,  and  sitting  upon  nail-kegs,  tobacco- 
boxes,  salt-sacks,  half-opened  cases  of  brogans,  wins- 


NEW  INFLUENCES.  81 

key  and  flour  barrels,  about  the  store,  were,  as  it 
seemed  to  me,  half  the  jockeys,  small  farmers,  half- 
breeds,  cattle-raisers,  gamblers,  loafers,  of  Ocklawahaw. 
Some  were  whittling  sticks,  others  were  chewing  to 
bacco  and  spitting  between  their  outstretched  legs, 
but  all  were  listening,  as  if  for  life,  to  the  man 
perched  above  them  all,  upon  the  counter.  I  knew 
that  he  must  be  some  remarkable  somebody,  he  was 
so  very  large  and  good-looking,  and  he  was  so  entirely 
conscious  of  it." 

But  I  will  repeat  what  Eoss  went  on  to  describe  to 
me,  in  my  own  words. 

"  And  so  you  see,  my  friends,"  the  new-comer  was 
saying  as  Eoss  went  in,  "  Andrew  Jackson  was  the 
same  Old  Hickory  after  he  became  President  of  the 
United  States  as  before." 

There  was  a  deliberate  drawl  in  the  way  in  which, 
as  Eoss  mimicked  it  for  me,  it  was  said  which  it  is 
impossible  to  put  upon  paper.  It  was  that  of  a  very 
heavy  and  indolent  man  who  enjoyed  his  own  pre 
eminence  and  knew  how  intently  every  word  was 
hung  upon  by  his  admiring  hearers.  The  slow  drag 
ging  out  of  each  syllable  was  an  affectation  which 
would  have  seemed  absurd  in  a  lesser  man ;  now  it 
was  part  of  the  pomp  of  a  king. 

"  It  happened,"  the  stranger  continued,  "  when 
Jackson  was  President.  Donaldson  was  his  secretary. 
When  Donaldson  told  Jackson  that  she  was  waiting 
to  see  him  in  the  East  Eoom,  he  found  the  President, 
as  usual,  dressed  out  in  the  ragged  old  wrapper  he 
brought  with  him  from  the  Hermitage  in  Tennessee. 

6 


82  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

He  was  smoking  his  pipe.  It  was  a  cob  pipe.  A  corn 
cob  pipe.  With  a  six-inch  reed  stem.  '  You  go  and  tell 
the  Countess,'  Jackson  said  to  Donaldson,  — '  you  go 
and  tell  her,'  Old  Hickory  said, '  that  I  will  be  with  her 
in  a  minute.'  '  My  Lord  ! '  Donaldson  replied,  '  what 
are  you  thinking  about,  General  ?  You  won't  see  her 
with  that  old  dressing-gown  on,  with  your  hair  in 
that  fix,  with  your  cob  pipe  between  your  teeth ! ' 
Jackson's  hair  stood  up  all  over  his  head,  as  you  know, 
gentlemen.  '  Donaldson,'  Jackson  replied  —  " 

Here,  as  Ross  related  to  me,  the  new-comer  stopped 
speaking.  He  was  carving  something  out  of  a  cypress 
shingle,  and  he  held  it  away  from  him  to  see  how  it 
looked.  There  was  an  unbroken  silence.  Taking  his 
time  to  it,  he  resumed  after  a  while  his  whittling  and 
his  story. 

" '  Donaldson,'  Jackson  replied,  '  you  do  as  I  tell 
you.'  '  General,'  Donaldson  begged,  '  the  lady  is  a 
Countess.  Moreover,  she  is  writing  a  big  book  upon 
America.  At  least,  leave  your  old  slippers.'  '  Donald 
son,'  Old  Hickory  said,  'I  knew  a  man  once  who 
made  a  fortune  by  minding  his  own  business.' " 

Here  the  centre  of  the  admiring  group  paused  to 
take  another  look  at  his  shingle,  and  then  slowly 
resumed. 

"  If  you  will  believe  me,  gentlemen,  in  half  an  hour 
after  Jackson  was  in  the  East  Room  talking  to  that 
woman.  He  was  dressed  out  in  black  broadcloth,  his 
hair  combed  beautifully.  She  wrote  in  her  book 
that  President  Jackson  was  the  most  polished  gentle 
man  she  met  in  America.  In  her  knowledge  of  the 


NEW  INFLUENCES.  83 

nobles  and  kings  of  Europe  she  had  never  met  a  more 
refined  and  aristocratic  person." 

"You  must  imagine  the  speaker,"  Eoss  added  as 
he  told  me  of  it.  "  Although  he  sat  in  a  slouchino- 

°  O 

way  upon  the  counter  while  he  talked,  he  was  the 
most  magnificent-looking  man  I  ever  saw.  When  he 
arose  and  shook  himself  from  the  litter  he  made  in  his 
whittling.  I  saw  that  he  was  of  almost  colossal  height 

O'  O 

and  breadth.  That  he  was,  or  had  been,  in  the  army, 
I  could  see  by  his  military  bearing.  His  head  was 
large  and  in  keeping  with  his  stature  and  yard-across 
breadth  of  shoulder ;  the  brows  retreating,  but  noble  ; 
the  jaws  as  powerful  as  those  of  a  bull;  the  face 
almost  leonine  amid  its  shaggy  abundance  of  tawny 
hair  and  beard.  I  was  amazed.  To  me  he  seemed 
in  his  copperas-colored  suit  to  be  an  emperor  in 
disguise. 

"And  so  he  stood  leaning  against  the  counter  whit 
tling,  telling  anecdote  after  anecdote,  awakening  now 
and  then  peals  of  laughter.  At  last,  and  in  a  mo 
mentary  pause,  my  father  introduced  me.  Of  course 
all  the  world  must  know  who  the  distinguished 
stranger  was,  and  all  that  my  father  said  was,  '  Gen 
eral,  this  is  my  son  Eoss.'  Had  he  been  at  once  a 
king,  a  patriarch,  and  an  affectionate  grandmother, 
he  could  not  have  been  more  stately,  more  venerable 
in  his  manner,  more  loving.  Eemoving  his  jack-knife 
from  his  right  hand  to  that  which  held  the  shingle, 
he  took  in  his  own  my  hand,  saying, '  You  are  a  noble- 
looking  youth,  young  sir.  As  I  fervently  hope,  you 
are  a  virtuous.'  He  held  my  hand  in  his  while  he 


84  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

said  this.  Then  he  laid  his  broad  palm  upon  my 
head.  '  May  God,'  he  said  in  fervent  accents,  — 
'  may  God  Almighty  bless  you,  my  son  ! '  He  said  it 
with  such  unction  that,  for  a  moment,  there  was 
silence  in  the  room ;  but  then,  to  my  astonishment, 
beginning  with  a  low  titter,  everybody  gave  way  to 
laughter,  and  peal  followed  upon  peal,  as  if  this  was 
the  best  joke  of  all.  Wondering,  I  glanced  around 
the  crowded  store  and  then  at  the  stranger.  He  had 
resumed  his  whittling,  and  his  broad  face  was  benig 
nant  ;  but  my  study  of  his  really  noble  countenance 
was  arrested  by  the  angles  of  his  eyes,  the  corners, 
under  his  venerable  beard,  of  his  mouth.  They 
slanted  in  the  lines  of  concealed  —  no,  it  could  not 
be  —  amusement !  There  was  a  certain  indescribable 
flickering,  quivering,  —  no,  the  eyes  were  full  in 
mine,  then  furtive,  then  fastened  with  grave  sincerity 
upon  the  bit  of  wood  which  was  taking  under  his 
careful  carving  the  shape  of  a  heart. 

"  And  this,"  Ross  added,  "  was  Governor,  Senator, 
possibly  President  Beauchamp  !  But  that  was  merely 
the  beginning  of  my  acquaintance  with  him." 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  85 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP. 

A  ND  so,  when  Governor  Beauchamp  fled  from  the 
•*  *•  scene  of  his  triumphs,  it  was  in  the  Reservation 
that  he  found  a  shelter.  The  habits  he  had  formed 
during  his  stay  among  the  Seminoles  in  Florida  had 
doubtless  much  to  do  with  it. 

"They  say,"  I  remarked  to  Ross,  when  we  were 
speaking,  long  after,  of  the  Governor,  "  that  when  a 
forest  is  burned  there  springs  up  in  its  place  a  wholly 
new  and  different  species  of  vegetation,  the  seeds  of 
which  had  been  biding  their  time  in  the  soil  from 
creation.  So  of  Governor  Beauchamp.  We  cannot 
understand  the  smallest  revolution  in  weeds  or  min 
erals  ;  how  much  less  can  we  explain  any  man,  and 
the  queer  changes  which  befall  him  ?  " 

"  Man  is  himself,"  Ross  replied,  "  one  of  the  very 
least  of  the  growths  of  the  soil,  the  easiest  understood 
of  all.  What  is  an  insect  like  Beauchamp  in  com 
parison  to  magnificent  nature  ?  We  speak  of  the 
magnetic  force  by  which  the  sun  draws  the  planets 
toward  itself,  by  which  the  globe  compels  its  particles 
toward  its  centre ;  did  it  ever  occur  to  you,  Guern 
sey,  how  nature  drags  to  itself  unceasingly  the  hearts, 
also,  of  all  of  us  ?  The  dullest  and  driest  Professor  of 


86  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Philology  will  drop  his  dictionary,  and  be  drawn, 
whenever  he  can  find  excuse  for  yielding,  to  the  sea 
shore  or  the  mountain  side,  —  it  is  the  magnetic  at 
traction  upon  him  of  mountain  and  sea.  A  man  may 
have  made  himself  as  much  of  a  money-making  ma 
chine  as  if  he  were  the  contrivance  for  that  purpose 
in  a  mint,  yet,  all  of  a  sudden,  he  will  have  broken 
away  and  gone,  —  Europe  has  seized  upon  and  drawn 
him  across  the  water,  precisely  as  a  magnet  does  an 
iron  filing.  Did  you  ever  observe  how  utterly  men 
and  women,  as  well  as  children,  give  themselves  up 
in  a  picnic  to  the  attraction  of  lake  or  forest  ?  Our 
life  is  wholly  artificial,  against  nature.  Some  take 
opium  to  escape ;  others,  whiskey.  Some  fly  to  relig 
ion  to  get  away  from  our  unnatural  life.  We  gamble, 
read  fiction,  plunge  into  poetry,  go  to  the  theatre,  the 
race-course,  —  it  is  but  a  desperate  effort  to  break 
jail,  to  get  out  of  the  wretched  conventionalism  of 
men  and  women,  and  back  again  to  great  nature. 

"  It  is  that,"  Ross  continued,  "  which  explains  Gov 
ernor  Beauchamp.  He  was  a  large  man,  and  nature 
drew  him  to  itself  with  a  powerful  grasp.  It  was  the 
surge  of  the  sea  he  craved,  the  blowing  of  the  wind, 
the  flash  and  peal  of  the  storm,  something  larger, 
more  genuine,  than  the  miserable  trifles  aboul  him  as 
Governor.  He  was  as  glad  to  get  away  from  his  pop 
ularity  as  from  his  unpopularity,  —  more  so,  for  peo 
ple  pressed  about  and  stifled  him  more  in  the  first 
instance  than  in  the  last.  He  fled  to  us,  and  for 
years  he  was  the  biggest,  most  utterly  abandoned, 
and  happiest  loafer  in  Ocklawahaw." 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  87 

"  How  did  he  pass  his  time  ? "  I  asked. 

"He  spent  it,"  Eoss  said,  "as  the  Orientals  do, 
as  the  Syrian  Jobs  and  Isaacs  did,  in  gravely  and  de 
liberately  doing  nothing.  He  found  a  luxury  in  being 
far  away  from  Congress  and  the  squabbling  capital  of 
his  State.  Like  a  mariner  who  had  escaped  from 
wreck  and  stormy  seas,  he  simply  sat  high  and  dry 
on  the  beach,  beyond  the  utmost  reach  of  the  waves, 
and  in  the  sunshine,  resting,  doing  nothing  whatever. 
He  found  a  luxury  iu  eating  as  much  as  possible, 
sleeping  as  often  and  as  long  as  he  could,  smoking  the 
best  tobacco  in  reach,  talking  when  he  felt  like  it, 
saying  nothing  when  he  preferred  to  be  silent,  —  the 
existence  of  a  king. 

"  If  the  truth  must  be  told,"  he  added,  "  the  Gov 
ernor  was  a  sadly  demoralized  Executive,  in  more 
senses  than  one.  He  became  very  fat,  I  may  say  enor 
mously  fat,  —  too  fat  to  hunt,  to  ride,  even  to  fish  in 
the  river,  as  he  did  when  he  first  arrived.  As  a  rule 
he  did  not  wake  until  late  in  the  day.  I  am  com 
pelled  to  add  that  he  got  drunk.  He  said  it  was  the 
only  way  he  could  escape  chills  and  fever.  By  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  he  would  be  garrulously 
drunk,  with  a  crowd  about  him ;  by  four  he  ceased 
to  talk  by  reason  of  the  state  of  solemn  and  digni 
fied  intoxication  to  which  he  had  attained,  and  his 
retinue  withdrew.  At  such  times  he  sat  generally 
on  a  stone  beneath  a  sycamore,  in  a  condition  of 
majestic  and  haughty  isolation  from  every  one,  refus 
ing  to  pay  his  usual  attention  to  anything  or  to  any 
body.  Leaving  out  of  account  his  soiled  clothing, 


88  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

disregarding  as  far  as  I  could  the  broad-brimmed  felt 
hat  which  rested  at  strange  angles  upon  his  noble 
head,  Governor  Beauchamp  was  even  then,  and  merely 
to  look  at,  the  most  commanding  of  men.  When  in 
that  stage,  his  great  hands  grasping  the  heavy  stick 
of  bois  d'etre  wood  which  he  always  carried,  as  it  stood 
between  his  knees,  poising  himself  with  unspeakable 
dignity,  his  eyes  wide  open  and  gazing  before  him  in 
solemn  abstraction  from  all  around,  you  could  imagine 
him  a  monarch  awaiting  an  embassy  ;  at  the  very 
least,  it  was  easy  to  fancy  him  still  in  his  seat  in  the 
Senate,  gravely  considering  the  line  of  statesmanship 
to  be  followed  in  some  national  emergency  then  press 
ing  upon  him. 

"  When  he  sat  in  silent  state  upon  his  stone  under 
the  sycamore,  you  would  not  at  first,"  Ross  went  on, 
"  have  imagined  that  he  had  touched  liquor.  Taking 
into  account  the  rude  scenery  about  him  and  his  own 
habiliments,  it  was  easy  to  imagine  him  some  mighty 
Montezuma  of  old  hidden  in  the  wilds,  waiting  until 
the  justice  of  Heaven  should  destroy  his  foes  and  re 
store  him  to  his  throne.  Alas !  within  half  an  hour 
he  would  slowly  relax,  slacken  in  every  muscle,  yield 
as  to  an  inexorable  and  mysterious  doom,  and,  sliding 
down  from  the  stone  upon  which  he  sat,  would  lie 
along  the  earth  in  majestic  ruins,  dead  drunk." 

"  They  say,"  I  remarked,  "  that  his  Indian  name 
was  '  Big-Drunk.' " 

"  Yes,  '  Doora-Chup,'  '  Big-Drunk ; '  that  was  the 
name  by  which  he  was  known,  at  least,"  Ross  added, 
"  until  she  came." 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  89 

"  She  ?    Who  was  she  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Be  patient,  and  I  will  tell  you.  In  those  days," 
he  continued,  "  I  gave  my  mornings  to  hard  study. 
It  pleased  my  mother.  And  I  had  an  ambition,  too, 
to  show  her  that  I  was  not  dependent  upon  any 
college  for  my  education.  I  must  have  studied  very 
hard,  for  I  could  not  apply  myself  in  the  afternoons. 
"With  my  dogs  at  my  heels,  my  rifle  in  my  hand,  I 
would  saunter  about  as  the  fancy  took  me.  The 
sycamore  of  which  I  have  spoken  was  upon  the 
outskirts  of  the  village,  where  the  prairie  began, — 
the  coolest  spot,  according  to  tradition,  anywhere 
about,  by  reason  of  a  breeze  which  blew  there,  or 
ought  to  blow,  from  the  expanse  beyond.  When  any 
one  sat  upon  the  stone  beneath  the  old  sycamore, 
he  could  not  help  leaning  against  its  gnarled  trunk, 
which,  worn  smooth  and  shiny  thereby,  always  re 
minded  me  of  the  knees  of  Parson  Williams's  Sunday 
suit.  How  often  have  I  sat  upon  that  stone  whole 
afternoons !  There  I  would  remain  for  hours,  with 
the  Governor  lying  at  my  feet,  too  heavy  for  less 
than  four  men  to  bear  away,  and  not  a  man  in 
the  village  who  cared  enough  for  him  to  make  the 
attempt. 

"  How  well  I  remember  those  hot  days  in  August ! 
On  one  side  of  me  rolled  the  river  like  an  infernal 
Styx,  slimy,  silent,  not  a  fish  leaping  out  of  it,  not  a 
bird  skimming  its  surface,  too  muddy,  too  hot  for  any 
body  unless  it  was  a  boy  to  bathe  in.  When  I  turned 
my  eyes  toward  the  open  prairie,  there  was  not  a  living 
thing  to  be  seen  upon  it,  and  the  air  between  where 


90  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

I  sat  and  the  distant  hills  flickered  with  heat,  need 
ing  but  a  few  more  degrees  thereof  to  become  flame. 
Back  of  me  were  the  woods,  dark  but  not  cool,  full 
of  rotting  trees  ;  and  every  now  and  then  I  could  hear 
a  distant  crash  which  told  of  some  falling  bough  or 
giant  live-oak,  upon  which  the  slowly  gnawing  doom 
had  done  its  work  at  last.  Everybody  in  and  about 
the  village  seemed  to  be  dead  or  asleep.  I  knew  that 
Amasa  Clarke  was  lying  flat  on  his  back  on  the  plat 
form  in  the  exhibition-room  of  the  academy,  as  the 
coolest  spot  there,  sleeping,  with  his  foolish  mouth 
open,  fat  and  flaccid  like  a  stranded  fish. 

"  And  there  I  would  sit  looking  at  Governor  Beau- 
champ  stretched  out  on  the  dead  leaves,  his  great  face 
full  in  the  sun,  the  flies  swarming  about  him  as  if  he 
were  so  much  manure.  It  was  a  lesson  to  me,  Guern 
sey,"  Eoss  went  on.  "  I  said  to  myself,  '  Here  is  a 
man  who  has  made  a  desperate  struggle  of  it  from 
childhood.  How  hard  and  long  he  worked  when  a 
lad,  when  a  school-teacher !  This  mass  of  bloated 
corruption  took  a  complete  course  at  West  Point. 
He  mastered  there  the  toughest  sort  of  mathematics, 
was  taught  the  languages,  was  drilled  for  years  by  a 
stern  discipline,  learned  how  to  dance,  to  fence,  to 
ride,  to  fight.  Here  he  lies  and  rots,  and  yet  he 
fought  bravely  in  the  everglades  of  Florida,  has 
bought  and  sold  with  the  shrewdest,  has  made 
speeches,  has  figured  in  Congress,  has  filled  the  papers 
with  his  name.  This  man,  with  his  hanging  cheeks, 
puffy  eyes,  draggled  beard,  Roman  head  in  the 
mire,  —  this  man  was  esteemed  the  most  perfect 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  91 

gentleman,  the  wisest  statesman,  the  most  finished 
orator,  nothing  in  the  world  beyond  the  reach  of  his 
ambition,  and  yet  —  there  he  lies.' 

"I  have  read  of  the  ruined  cities  of  Asia,  have 
seen  in  imagination  the  fallen  columns  of  glorious 
temples,  the  prostrate  images  of  the  Ptolemies  and 
Nebuchadnezzars,  but  Governor  Beauchamp  lying  at 
my  feet  those  hot  afternoons  was  as  instructive  a 
teaching  as  I  could  wish  to  have  in  regard  to  things, 
because,  you  will  observe,  I  got  thus  at  the  facts. 
That  is  what  I  like  to  get  at,  the  fads  !  "  Eoss  added, 
not  savagely,  but  with  a  sincerity  which  was,  to  me, 
exceedingly  sad. 

"  I  remember  one  night,"  he  continued,  "  when  I 
sat  with  his  Excellency  snoring  upon  the  earth  at  my 
feet  until  darkness  fell.  There  was  no  moon,  but  all 
the  stars  were  out,  and  as  I  stood  at  last,  my  head 
bared  to  the  night  breeze  beside  the  fallen  monarch 
of  men,  I  looked  up  at  the  immeasurable  blue  above 
me,  and  contrasted  the  poor  worm  at  my  feet,  so  de 
based  during  even  his  brief  moment  of  existence, 
with  the  more  than  eighteen  millions  of  suns  known 
to  astronomers,  which  have  burned  for  millions  of 
years  about  and  around  the  speck  of  dust  we  call  our 
globe.  Guernsey,  I  got  an  impression  then  of  the 
microscopic  meanness  of  man  and  the  grandeur  of 
nature  which  I  shall  retain  forever." 

"From  what  you  have  told  me  I  should  think,"  I 
said,  "that  you  might  have  learned  something  also 
from  such  a  life  as  that  of  old  Parson  Williams,  as 
your  people  call  him."  For  I  did  not  care  to  argue. 


92  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  Yes,  he  was,"  Ross  consented,  "  a  good  man.  He 
came  to  Ocklawahaw  so  long  before  only  to  do  good. 
He  had  worked  long  and  very  hard,  and  he  was 
very  poor.  His  wife  had  worked  even  harder,  if 
possible,  and  she  was  dead.  I  had  to  pass  by  his 
tumble-down  old  cabin  on  my  way  to  the  sycamore, 
and  was  pretty  sure  always  to  see  him  at  work  at 
something.  He  was  about  the  only  man  in  the 
village  who  did  not  take  a  long  nap  of  summer 
afternoons,  and  when  I  strolled  by  I  was  very  apt  to 
see  him  hoeing  at  his  cabbages  or  his  beets,  fixing  a 
new  handle  to  his  axe,  plastering  fresh  mud  upon  the 
chinking  of  his  cabin, —  an  exceedingly  plain  old 
man,  whose  talk  was  as  rough  as  his  clothes.  The 
only  wickedness  with  which  he  could  blame  himself 
was  that,  as  soon  as  he  settled  himself  down  to  a 
book,  he  would  fall  asleep." 

"  And  there  was  Persis,  you  told  me,"  I  began. 

"  Yes,  Persis."  It  was  really  amazing  the  change 
which  came  into  the  manner  of  my  friend  as  he 
repeated  her  name.  His  face  lighted  up,  his  tones 
were  different.  "As  I  told  you,"  Ross  continued, 
"  she  was  the  busiest  morsel  of  a  girl,  those  days,  you 
ever  saw.  Her  grandfather  kept  no  help,  of  course, 
and  the  poor  little  thing  had  the  household  work  to 
do.  She  was  ambitious,  more  so  than  I  was,  to  keep 
up  in  her  studies  too." 

Ross  had  told  me  about  her  before.  "  I  wonder,"  I 
now  said  aloud,  but  none  the  less  to  myself,  "  why 
you,  why  somebody  —  " 

"  Did  not  come  to  her  help  ? "     There  was  color  in 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  93 

his  face  as  he  anticipated  my  question,  nor  conld  I 
understand  why  his  eyes,  always  so  steadily  in  mine 
when  we  conversed,  should  fall  to  the  earth. 

"  My  mother  had  in  those  days,"  —  and  there  was 
such  unconscious  gall  in  the  accents  of  the  speaker !  — 
"  no  thought  except  for  me.  Nor  did  she  have  any 
means  of  her  own.  My  father  was  not  interested  in 
her,  —  in  Persis." 

"  Nor  in  any  one  else,"  I  added,  but  this  time  wholly 
to  myself,  as  I  well  knew  he  had  always  held  every 
penny  of  his  wife's  possessions,  too,  in  his  own  hand. 
Abandoned  drunkard  and  unfaithful  husband  that  he 
was,  he  did  not  relax,  even  at  his  drunkest,  his  iron 
hold  upon  his  money.  How  his  wife  managed  to 
obtain  the  means  to  prepare  Ross  for  college,  and  to 
maintain  him  there  afterward,  was  a  mystery  which 
perhaps  some  remains  of  Indian  cunning  in  her  veins 
could  alone  explain.  It  was  small  wonder  that  his 
son  rarely  or  never  mentioned  his  father  to  me.  It 
struck  me,  as  I  came  to  know  about  General  Urwoldt, 
how  that,  while  his  avarice  strengthened  with  his 
years,  his  passion  for  poetry,  music,  painting,  oratory, 
had  passed  into  his  son,  giving  to  Boss  a  certain  curve 
and  color,  a  softness  even  and  warmth,  to  what  would 
have  been  otherwise  the  inflexible  bronze  of  his  strong 
nature.  So  far  as  the  father  was  concerned,  even 
the  memory  of  having  once  possessed  these  gifts  had 
rotted  away.  Except  in  business  matters  he  never 
touched  a  pen.  It  had  been  a  long  time  since  he  had 
opened  a  book.  That  he  had  once  done  excellent 
work  with  his  brush  was  to  him,  when  thought  of  at 


94  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

all,  a  matter  of  contempt  as  for  a  folly  of  his  youth. 
For  all  taste  was  lost  in  love  of  liquor,  all  conception 
of  beauty  in  the  grossest  lewdness,  all  that  remained 
to  the  man  of  clear-headedness  and  strength  was 
where  the  making  and  keeping  of  money  was  con 
cerned.  As  it  is,  I  would  have  disdained  to  give  to 
General  Urwoldt  a  word  here,  or  a  thought,  had  it 
not  been  for  what  there  was  in  him  of  explanation 
—  excuse,  dare  I  say  ?  —  of  and  for  his  son. 

But  I  did  not  intend  to  speak  of  the  father.  "  From 
almost  the  first  month  after  my  return  from  college," 
Eoss  went  on,  "I  did  what  I  could  for  Persis,  —  in 
her  studies,  I  mean.  There  was  no  merit  in  it.  She 
was  so  eager  to  learn,  so  quick  to  apprehend,  so 
retentive  of  what  she  carne  to  know,  that  I  was  glad 
to  do  it.  Guernsey,"  he  added,  "women  are  brighter 
than  you  or  I,  —  at  least,  she  was." 

"  Be  good  enough,"  I  replied,  "  to  tell  me  something 
I  do  not  know.  Have  you  done  with  Montezuma  ? " 

"  How  well  I  recall  one  particularly  hot  afternoon ! " 
my  friend  continued,  speaking  as  if  to  himself.  "  I 
was  resting  upon  the  stone  beneath  the  sycamore,  the 
mighty  son  of  Bacchus  lying  at  ray  feet,  when  Persis 
passed  by,  barefooted,  on  her  way  to  the  spring  for 
water.  She  had  seen  the  sight  before." 

Eoss  paused  a  moment.  Almost  as  if  he  had  told 
me  so,  I  saw  that  he  was  thinking  of  his  own  father, 
who  was  as  hard  a  drinker  as  Beauchamp,  except  that 
he  locked  himself  up  in  his  store,  for  fear  of  being 
robbed,  when  he  gave  way  to  his  potations. 

"  The  girl  was  not  as  much  shocked  as  you  would 


RACHEL  BEAUCPTAMP.  95 

suppose,"  Boss  went  on,  "  she  had  seen  so  much  of  it ; 
but  she  looked  at  the  fallen  man  so  pitifully  as  she 
passed  that  I  stopped  her  when  she  came  back,  carry 
ing  in  one  hand  the  heavy  blue  bucket  full  of  water, 
leaning  away  from  it,  her  other  arm  extended  to  keep 
her  balance,  heartily  ashamed  of  her  bare  feet. 

" '  Persia,'  I  said,  "  is  n't  it  a  pity  ? '  She  did  not 
lift  her  eyes  to  me,  she  was  looking  at  the  drunkard. 
'  Yes,'  was  all  she  said.  She  picked  up  the  vessel 
which  she  had  rested  for  a  moment  on  the  earth  in, 
the  other  hand,  and  went  on.  I  arose  and  strolled 
toward  the  river,  and  stood  out  of  sight  from  the 
sycamore,  looking  vaguely  at  the  water,  and  saying, 
like  a  fool,  to  myself,  'If  this  water,  if  all  rivers 
which  run,  were  tears  flowing  across  the  face  of  the 
world  for  the  misery  in  it,  they  would  not  suffice,  not 
if  the  brine  of  ocean  were  added  thereto!'  How 
sick  I  was  of  the  awful  problem !  '  And  how  can 
there  be  a  Christ,'  I  said  as  I  turned  away,  'when 
He  stands  by,  if  there  is  one,  and  sees  this  and  ten 
thousand  worse  things  every  day  and  does  nothing  ? ' 

"As  I  muttered  it,  I  came  where  I  could  see  the 
prostrate  statesman.  Persis,  supposing  I  had  gone 
away,  had  returned,  and  was  sitting  on  the  ground 
by  his  head.  She  had  brought  a  book  with  her,  and, 
holding  it  in  her  left  hand,  with  a  leafy  branch  she 
had  broken  from  a  chinquepin-bush  near  by  in  the 
other,  was  keeping  away  the  flies  from  the  bloated 
face.  For  some  time  I  leaned  upon  my  rifle,  watch 
ing  her.  She  was  small,  thin,  sallow,  —  a  little 
country  girl,  sunburned,  and  plain  as  plain  could  be. 


96  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Upon  her  head  was  a  sun-bonnet  of  the  same  blue  as 
her  calico  dress,  made,  in  fact,  from  the  same  piece. 
It  was  tied  under  her  chin  by  strings  of  the  same, 
and  thrown  back  from  her  face,  that  she  might  study 
the  harder.  Wholly  forgetful  of  her  bare  and  very 
brown  feet,  she  was  conning  her  lesson  over  as  she 
sat,  changing  the  brush  for  the  book,  and  the  book 
for  the  brush,  as  her  hands  became  tired,  but  study 
ing  and  brushing  away  as  steadily  as  a  clock. 

" '  Penna,  Pennae,  Pennae,  Pennam,  Penna,  Penna' 
came  from  her  in  the  peculiar  recitative  of  those  who 
are  memorizing,  and  this  over  and  over  again.  '  Pity, 
pity,'  she  then  added,  and,  laying  down  brush  and 
book,  she  wet  a  towel  from  a  tin  basin  beside  her, 
which  I  had  not  observed  before,  washed  off  the  per 
spiration  and  grime  from  the  senatorial  brows  before 
her,  wiped  the  whole  purple  face,  like  the  smallest 
conceivable  mother  of  the  largest  imaginable  baby, 
did  it  slowly,  carefully,  then,  resuming  grammar  and 
brush,  she  went  on  more  rapidly,  after  a  glance  at  the 
setting  sun,  '  Plural,  Pennae,  Pennarum,  Pennis,  Pen- 
nas,  Pennae,  Pennis!'  over  and  over  again.  As  I 
came  slowly  up,  she  snatched  in  her  naked  feet  under 
her  calico  skirt  in  alarm,  hesitated  a  moment,  closed 
her  book,  her  forefinger  in  it  to  keep  the  place,  but 
kept  the  leafy  switch  in  motion. 

" '  Studying  Latin ! '  I  exclaimed.  '  Why  Persis, 
who  put  you  up  to  that  ? ' 

" '  Nobody,'  she  said, '  but  I  want  to  teach  when  I 
grow  old  enough,  and  I  must  learn  first,  you  know.' 

" '  Persis,'  I  said,  '  listen  to  me.     I  am  a  man,  and 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  97 

you  are  only  a  little  girl.  You  are  very  young,  and  I 
am  years  older  than  you.  For  you  ever  to  study 
Latin  is  nonsense,  but  for  you  to  study  it  now  is 
wicked.  You  are  too  young.  I  am  astonished  at 
your  grandfather.' 

" '  Grandpa  knows  nothing  about  it,'  she  said, 
smoothing  her  skirt  down  over  her  hidden  feet.  '  I 
took  it  up  for  myself.' 

" '  Well,  don't  do  so  any  more,  that 's  a  good  girl.' 
But,  as  I  proceeded,  I  found  I  could  not  talk  in  as 
patronizing  a  way  as  I  began.  There  was  no  assent 
to  what  I  was  saying  in  her  eyes ;  they  were  opened  a 
little  wider,  that  was  all  She  was  shy,  but  not  afraid 
of  me,  not  as  docile  as  I  had  expected,  and  I  paused 
to  look  at  her  afresh. 

"  No,"  Eoss  said,  "  there  was  no  beauty  in  her  face, 
none  at  all.  She  had  worked  too  hard,  was  too  prac 
tical.  Besides,  she  was  at  the  awkward  age  in  a  girl, 
even  if  she  had  time  for  those  slopes  and  spirals  of 
leisure  which  are  the  lines  of  beauty.  I  wished  she 
could  have  laughed  more  readily,  but  there  was  noth 
ing  in  particular  to  laugh  at  just  then.  The  sadness 
of  her  eyes  lifted  to  mine  were  sweetened  with  an 
utter  sincerity  which  touched  me.  I  sat  down  upon 
the  stone  again  for  the  purpose  of  looking  into  them 
some  more.  We  talked  about  her  studies  as  we  had 
done  before.  She  took  up  the  Latin  Grammar  again, 
but  she  did  not  cease  keeping  off  the  flies. 

" '  This  man  studied  Latin,'  I  said  at  last,  touching 
him  with  my  foot ;  '  Greek  too,  I  dare  say.  He  learned 
all  the  mathematics ;  he  learned  everything,  and  look 

7 


98  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

at  him ! '  Persis  complied  with  my  request,  and 
turned  her  practical  eyes  upon  the  wrecked  politician, 
but  she  had  nothing  to  say.  '  Persis/  I  said,  —  for  I 
was  at  just  the  age  to  do  it,  —  'this  man  represents  a 
good  deal.  He  stands  for  and  illustrates  multitudes 
of  men,'  for  I  could  not  help  showing  off  a  little  be 
fore  her.  '  This  individual  is  Darius  after  the  battle 
of  Issus,  is  Xerxes  after  his  repulse  from  Greece,  is 
Hannibal  after  he  was  driven  out  of  Italy  and  had 
taken  poison,  is  Julius  Csesar  after  Brutus  stabbed 
him,  is  —  this  man  represents  all  the  Roman  emperors, 
every  soul  of  them,  —  that  is,  after  they  had  reigned 
awhile.' 

" '  Does  he  ? '  Persis  asked,  her  inquiring  eyes  fas 
tened  upon  mine. 

" '  He  is  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena.  This  poor  fool,' 
I  declaimed,  '  is  Babylon  after  its  fall,  Carthage,  Nine 
veh,  Baalbec,  Palmyra,  Rome,  —  a  thousand  empires 
we  have  never  heard  of  which  nourished  and  perished. 
He  represents  them  all.' 

" '  Does  he  ? '  Persis  listened  seriously,  plying  her 
brush  as  she  did  so. 

"  '  You  think  his  is  a  peculiar  case  ? '  I  went  on. 
'  Not  at  all.  As  he  lies  here,  so  will  everything 
in  the  end;  the  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  .the 
grave.' 

" '  Do  they  ? '  But  Persis  was  not  attending  as  she 
should,  for  it  was  time  to  go,  and  she  got  up,  keeping 
her  feet  carefully  out  of  sight  under  the  edges  of  her 
gown.  My  talk  was  too  large  for  her  undeveloped 
mind  ;  she  merely  said, 


RACHEL  BEAUCHAMP.  99 

" '  I  must  go  to  get  grandfather's  supper,  but  I  will 
wash  off  his  face  again  before  I  go,  and  I  can  make 
up  for  it  afterward  by  running.' 

"  I  was  so  occupied  with  watching  her  do  it  that  I 
did  not  notice  another  girl  who  had  stolen  shyly  up 
while  we  were  talking.  The  first  I  knew  of  her  was 
a  sobbing,  then  an  outcry  of  grief  as  she  fell  upon  her 
knees  beside  the  drunken  man  on  the  side  opposite 
Persis.  It  was  a  girl  about  the  age  of  Persis,  but  she 
was  as  plump  and  full-faced  as  Persis  was  spare  and 
sinewy.  Her  hair  was  flaxen,  while  that  of  Persis  was 
brown ;  but  her  face,  freckled  as  it  was,  had  more  play 
in  it  of  white  and  red,  and  she  lifted  up  eyes  which 
seemed  to  be  blue  through  their  tears. 

"  Kneeling  beside  the  prostrate  man,  she  clasped  her 
hands  together,  rocking  herself  forward  and  backward 
upon  her  knees  in  utter  grief,  weeping  convulsively. 
Persis  had  stopped,  and  was  staring  at  her  across 
the  drunkard  with  great  eyes ;  but  the  surprise  was 
drowned  out,  as  in  a  moment,  by  her  tears  as  she^  saw 
the  distress  of  the  other. 

"  We  could  not  get  a  word  from  the  strange  girl  for 
a  long  time,  she  seemed  to  be  in  such  a  passion  of 
grief.  But  Persis  was  sitting  at  last  flat  on  the  earth 
by  her,  forgetful  of  her  bare  and  exposed  feet,  and  of 
supper  to  be  got,  weeping  with  her  arms  about  the 
other,  and  trying  to  soothe  her  in  a  certain  sober, 
old-fashioned  way.  I  had  an  idea  who  it  must  be, 
although  I  did  not  know  before  that  the  Governor  had 
a  daughter,  and  I  hastened  away  for  assistance  in 
removing  him,  not  to  his  own  cabin,  for  that  was  no 


100  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

place  for  the  girl  to  see,  but  to  Parson  "VVilliams's, 
for  the  night  at  least." 

"  And  those  two  girls  were  more  to  you  even  then," 
I  suggested,  "  than  all  the  constellations  of  the  uni 
verse  !  But  I  am  not  going  to  argue  with  you, 
man," 


ONLY  TWO  GIRLS.  101 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ONLY  TWO   GIRLS. 

"\  T  7HEN  Governor  Beauchamp  sought  seclusion  in 
»  *  Ocklawahaw,  it  was  because  the  Indian  Reser 
vation  lay  apart  from  all  lines  of  travel,  was  least 
known,  or,  when  known,  the  most  despised,  of  all  the 
regions  of  the  "West.  After  he  came,  however,  a 
feeble  current  of  immigration  slowly  set  in  toward 
the  new  lands  beyond.  To-day  that  first  faint-  trick 
ling  of  immigration  is  swollen  to  a  torrent  which 
has  poured  for  years,  and  has  opened  a  course  for  it 
self  broad  and  deep,  rolling  three  thousand  miles 
farther  northwestward.  But  the  passing  through 
the  Reservation  of  the  first  pioneers  was  enough  to 
uncover  the  secret  of  Governor  Beauchamp's  dis 
appearance. 

When  he  fled  to  the  Reservation  his  daughter 
Rachel  remained,  as  has  been  said,  in  charge  of  her 
aunt,  upon  the  plantation  of  her  father.  As  soon  as 
she  heard  of  his  whereabouts  she  wrote  to  him. 
But  it  was  in  vain  she  sent  letter  after  letter  in  her 
large  school-girl  hand ;  his  eye  was  not  to  be  pained 
by  her  misspelling,  nor  by  the  blotches  of  ink  upon 
the  page ;  it  is  doubtful,  poor  girl !  if  he  opened  one  of 
her  epistles.  General  Urwoldt  was  postmaster  as  well 


102  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

as  store-keeper  of  Ocklawahaw,  and  it  was  in  vain  that 
he  offered  the  Governor  his  accumulating  letters. 

"  No  newspapers,  no  letters  for  me,  if  you  please," 
he  would  reply,  waving  aside  the  documents  with  an 
oratorical  hand.  "  You  will  pardon  me,  General  Ur- 
woldt,  but  I  did  not  come  here  to  be  annoyed  with 
things  of  that  nature.  I  will  be  glad,  however,  to 
take  a  drink  with  you,  sir,  if  you  have  any  whiskey 
you  can  conscientiously  recommend." 

And  yet,  through  all  this  neglect,  there  was  this 
much  of  her  mother  in  Kachel  that  she  loved  her 
father  still.  As  she  grew  older,  there  was  also  so 
much  in  her  of  her  father,  too,  that  she  could  not  re 
main  content  to  live  quietly  on  with  her  aunt  upon 
the  plantation.  She  was  not  what  is  called  a  bright 
girl ;  in  that,  Persis  was  her  superior.  If  she  seemed 
almost  as  content  to  go  and  come  from  the  school- 
house  near  by  as  the  cows  were  content  to  come  and 
go  from  pasture,  she  brooded,  too,  in  her  slow  fashion, 
over  her  father's  absence,  and  what  she  had  better  do, 
seeing  that  he  answered  neither  her  letters  nor  those 
written  to  him  by  the  overseer  of  the  plantation  or 
by  her  aunt.  Who  can  tell  what  passes  beneath  the 
bark,  as  it  grows,  of  even  a  dogwood  sapling  ?  There 
are  processes  going  on  in  the  heart,  if  not  the  brain, 
of  a  blue-jay  which  are  as  inevitable  as  anything  in 
the  roll  of  the  planets ;  and,  as  Rachel  grew  older, 
there  were  feelings  which  blindly  determined  her  to 
do  something  for  her  father,  she  knew  not  what. 

For  every  appetite  growing  within  us  there  are 
parallel  preparations  of  supply  going  on  without  us ; 


ONLY  TWO   GIRLS.  103 

that,  also,  is  among  the  celestial  certainties  of  life. 
So  in  the  case  of  Rachel.  The  day  came,  neither  too 
soon  nor  too  late,  when  the  man  who  owned  the  plan 
tation  next  to  that  on  which  she  lived  with  her  aunt 
sold  out,  and  was  soon  to  go  West,  and  to  a  point 
beyond  the  Reservation,  but  by  a  road  which  led 
through  Ocklawahaw.  Rachel  knew  of  this  for 
months  in  advance  of  his  leaving.  Could  she  not 
take  Seelye,  her  black  nurse,  and  go  with  the  movers  ? 
Very  slowly  her  purpose  was  formed,  and  when  the 
wagons  started  at  last,  Rachel  had  no  more  idea  of 
staying  behind  than  an  oriole  has  when  the  new 
season  calls  it  southward.  And  so  she  took  her  place 
with  the  wife  and  manifold  children ;  and  the  cara 
van  of  canvas-covered  vehicles  rolled  westward,  the 
negroes,  cows,  dogs,  following  behind,  —  for  all  this 
was  before  the  days  of  emancipation. 

In  due  time  the  weary  movers  arrived  at  Ocklawa 
haw,  and  halted  in  front  of  the  tavern.  The  emigrant 
planter  stepped  upon  the  porch,  went  to  the  cedar 
bucket  upon  its  shelf  in  the  shade,  dipped  into  it  the 
big  yellow  gourd  hanging  by  its  leather  thong  from  a 
nail  near  by,  and  as  he  raised  the  water  to  his  lips,  he 
demanded  of  the  owner  of  the  house,  seated  in  a  hide- 
bottomed  chair,  his  feet  upon  the  rails  of  the  porch,  — 
a  Mr.  JakeGolson  byname, — "Does  Governor  Beau- 
champ  live  in  this  town  ? " 

"  Governor  Beauchamp  ? "  Mr.  Golson  dropped 
his  head  to  reflect.  "  Governor  Beauchamp  ? "  It 
was  as  if  he  had  heard  a  name  something  like  that 
in  his  childhood.  "  Oh,  Governor  Beauchamp  ?  Well, 


104  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

yes."  Since  people  seemed  to  have  found  it  out,  Gov 
ernor  Beauchainp  does  live  in  the  town. 

"This  is  his  daughter,"  said  the  planter.  For 
Rachel  had  landed  upon  the  porch  by  this  time  with 
her  nurse  and  her  trunks,  and  stood  by  in  trembling 
eagerness.  As  the  tavern-keeper  let  his  feet  fall  to 
the  floor  in  astonishment,  while  he  stared  at  her, 
there  were  abundant  leave-takings  between  the  girl 
and  her  friends.  But  there  had  been  enmity  between 
the  Governor  and  this  neighbor  of  his  who  had 
brought  his  daughter  on,  and,  although  he  had  not 
told  Eachel  of  it,  he  did  not  care  to  meet  the  father. 
As  soon  as  possible  the  wagons  rolled  on,  and  through 
the  town  to  their  next  camping-place,  and  Rachel  and 
her  nurse  were  left  standing  upon  the  por*ch.  But 
the  tavern-keeper  had  suddenly  forgotten  whereabouts 
in  the  village  the  Governor  lived ;  his  forgetfulness 
was  a  credit  to  him,  by  reason  of  the  condition  in 
which  the  poor  girl  would  have  found  her  father's 
cabin.  It  was  a  wretched  alternative,  but  what  could 
he  do  ?  "  The  Gov'nor  gin'ally  spends  his  arternoons, 
miss,"  he  said  at  last,  "  under  a  big  sycamore  in  the 
fur  end  of  the  town. "  And  Jake  Golson  walked  with 
her  in  his  shirt-sleeves,  the  nurse  staying  behind  in 
care  of  the  trunks,  until  he  could  point  out  the  tree. 

It  was  there  she  found  her  father,  as  has  been  de 
scribed. 

• 

And  surely  she  was  as  deliberately  constructed  — 
now  I  come  to  think  of  it  —  for  her  particular  work, 
too,  as  a  fish  is  to  swim,  or  a  bird,  however  young,  is 
to  fly.  -She  was,  as  has  been  said,  of  about  the  same 


ONLY  TWO   GIRLS.  105 

age  as  Persis  Paige,  but  of  a  heavier  cast,  both  of 
body  and  mind.  Her  forehead  was  not  as  high  as 
that  of  Persis,  but  it  was  broader.  She  had  not  been 
overstrained  by  hard  work,  like  Persis,  nor  did  she 
possess  either  fondness  or  aptitude  for  books,  while 
there  was  not  in  her  the  possibility  even  of  ambition. 
She  loved  her  father,  was  there,  as  by  a  maternal  in 
stinct,  to  do  what  she  could  for  him ;  that  was  all. 

Parson  Williams  became  greatly  interested  in  the 
matter,  and  in  a  little  while  the  Governor  was  housed 
in  one  of  the  best  of  the  frame  buildings  which 
chanced  to  be  standing  vacant  in  Ocklawahaw.  It 
was  the  providence  of  the  distant  aunt,  I  suppose, 
who  knew  the  father  too  well  not  to  do  it ;  but  Eachel 
was  sufficiently  supplied  from  the  plantation  with 
money  as  she  needed  it,  the  house  was  painted  and 
furnished,  the  fences  repaired,  the  negro  woman  who 
had  accompanied  Eachel  taking  her  place  as  house 
maid  and  cook.  "  Old  Seelye  is  my  mammy,"  Eachel 
explained  to  Persis,  "  and  I  could  n't  have  come  here 
if  Seelye  hadn't  come  with  me.  We  can  manage 
very  nicely." 

In  the  course  of  a  month  or  so  it  was  as  if  Eachel 
and  her  father  had  lived  together  in  their  new  home  for 
years.  He  was  cleaner,  somewhat  better  dressed,  but 
his  intemperance  was  nearly  the  same.  His  daughter, 
knowing  his  habits  before  she  came,  took  them  as 
part  of  the  ordinance  of  nature,  adjusting  herself  to 
them  without  a  tear  or  a  murmur.  Her  father  had 
long  been  accustomed  to  do  without  money,  and  ran 
up  accounts  at  General  Urwoldt's  store,  not  troubling 


106  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

himself  upon  the  subject  of  payment.  But  Eachel 
paid  for  the  eggs,  chickens,  butter,  flour,  venison, 
and  beef  like  a  matron  who  had  done  so  all  her  life, 
while  Seelye  cooked,  swept,  scrubbed,  washed,  ironed, 
as  if  she  had  never  known  any  world  but  that  of 
Ocklawahaw.  If  Eachel  had  no  thought  except  for 
her  father,  Seelye,  who  despised  the  Governor  yet 
more,  if  possible,  than  she  did  Ocklawahaw,  lived  but 
for  her  young  "  missis."  What  time  Persis  and  Ea 
chel  could  find  from  their  household  duties  was  spent 
with  each  other. 

"And  this  is  my  little  friend  Persis,"  Governor 
Beauchamp  would  remark,  when  he  came  upon  them 
seated  together,  of  a  morning,  under  the  sycamore- 
tree.  "  Eachel,  my  child,  I  am  glad  you  have  found 
such  a  friend."  He  was  as  sober  as  a  man  could  be, 
for  it  was  not  until  aftef  dinner  that  lie  began  to 
drink.  In  his  hand  he  carried  his  big  yellow  cane. 
His  suit  of  jeans  was  beautifully  clean,  and  neatly 
brushed.  Eachel  had  seen  to  that,  as  also  to  the 
purity  of  his  voluminous  linen,  the  arrangement  of 
his  abundant  hair  and  beard.  A  more  benignant  and 
carefully  attired  gentleman  it  was  impossible  to  find. 

"You  seem  to  be  a  good  girl,  little  Persis,"  he 
would  say  after  much  grandfatherly  talk,  her  little 
hand,  so  brown  and  hard,  still  held  in  his  own. 
"  They  tell  me,  little  lady,  that  you  are  the  best  and 
most  industrious  person  in  Ocklawahaw.  Bless  you, 
my  child  !"  And  he  laid  his  apostolic  hand  upon  her 
head,  which  happened  to  be  divested  of  its  sun-bonnet. 
"And  you  have  your  knitting,  I  see.  A  woollen 


ONLY  TWO   GIRLS.  107 

sock !  For  your  grandfather,  I  suppose.  And  how  is 
he,  my  child  ?  Be  sure  and  give  him  my  regards.  I 
have  a  profound  respect  for  clergymen,  and  your  ven 
erated  grandfather  is  one  of  the  most  worthy  of  them 
all.  You  go  to  school  ?  Ah,  yes.  That  is  right, 
right,  little  lady;  and  what  are  you  studying  now? 
Grammar?  Geography?  Latin,  too?  Surely  not 
Latin !  —  And  you,  my  little  dear,  I  hope  that  you 
are  well  this  morning.  No  touch,  I  hope,  of  your 
fatigue  now  from  travel  ? "  This  last  to  Eachel.  For 
it  was  one  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  majestic  speaker 
that  he  adopted  to  those  nearest  him  the  same  tone 
and  manner  which  he  used  to  strangers  just  intro 
duced.  Except  that  he  said  "  Yes,  my  dear ;  no,  my 
dear,"  instead  of  "  Yes,  lady ;  no,  lady,"  his  manner 
had  been  the  same  to  his  wife  when  she  was  alive  as 
it  would  have  been  to  the  wife  of — let  us  say  —  a 
brother  senator.  It  was  so  in  the  case  of  his  daughter. 
He  spoke  to  her,  whether  seated  on  his  own  porch, 
across  the  dinner- table,  everywhere,  exactly  as  he 
would  have  done  had  she  been  the  child  of,  say,  a 
general  of  the  army,  bringing  her  with  him  on  a  visit. 
It  was  part  of  the  man,  and  Kachel  took  it  as  her 
mother  had  done  before  her. 

"  You  do  well,  young  ladies,  to  enjoy  this  cool  and 
lovely  morning.  And  how  do  you  pass  your  time  ? " 
he  would  say  to  the  two  girls. 

Except  that  he  had  nothing  on  earth  to  do,  either 
then  or,  as  it  seemed,  forever  thereafter,  it  was  as  if 
he  had  descended  the  steps  of  the  Federal  Capitol  the 
moment  before  on  his  leisurely  way  to  call  upon  the 


108  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

President.  These  young  ladies  were  friends  of  his ;  he 
had  met  them  at  juvenile  balls  in  Washington,  to 
which  he  had  been  invited  because  of  his  well-known 
love  for  children.  All  this  had  taken  place  with 
Persis  more  than  once  before,  but  she  could  never 
fully  understand.  One  day  she  saw  him  lying  dead- 
drunk  on  the  earth,  and  the  next  morning  he  was 
talking  with  her,  as  now,  in  the  most  benevolent  way, 
by  far  the  grandest  human  being  she  had  ever  beheld. 
There  was  conflict  therein  which  bewildered  her. 
How  could  a  man  lie  in  the  dirt  like  a  hog  yesterday, 
and  stand  upon  his  feet  a  king  to-day? — beneath  the 
feet  of  everybody  in  the  afternoon,  above  the  level  of 
everybody — oh,  far  greater  than  General  Urwoldt, 
than  any  one  ever  seen  before  in  Ocklawahaw  —  the 
very  next  morning !  How  could  anybody  be  so  very 
bad  yesterday,  so  exceedingly  good,  benignant,  ven 
erable,  to-day  ?  —  it  was  that  which  puzzled  Persis 
most. 

After  talking  with  the  two  girls  as  long  as  Persis 
could  find  time  to  stay,  when  she  broke  away  at  last, 
taking  her  friend  with  her,  the  Governor  lifted  his 
hat  from  his  head,  smiled  down  upon  her  from  his 
heights  of  benignity  as  of  stature,  and'  passed  deliber 
ately  on,  leaving  Persis  to  study  out  her  puzzle  as 
best  she  could ;  and  so  from  day  to  day. 

Perhaps  a  day,  a  week,  a  month  after,  as  the  time 
drew  languidly  by,  he  would  stop  General  Urwoldt, 
just  lighting  from  his  horse  at  the  well-gnawed  rack 
near  the  store.  The  two  had  parted  only  at  noon  the 
day  before,  but  —  what  else  was  there  to  do  ?  —  the 


ONLY  TWO  GIRLS.  109 

Governor  would  demand,  "Well,  General,  and  how 
are  you  ?  You  have  been  out  at  your  ranch,  I  sup 
pose  ?  How  are  your  colts  thriving  ?  If  I  was  not 
such  a  poor  man,  I  would  raise  horses  myself.  What 
are  your  prospects  for  the  next  race  ? " 

Whereupon  his  friend  would  stand,  one  hand  upon 
the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  and  talk  to  him  for  an  hour, 
talking  over  again  things  already  told  a  dozen  times. 
Except  that  the  Governor  was  a  taller,  stouter  man 
every  way,  the  two  were  not  unlike.  But  General 
Urwoldt  could  no  more  talk  as  long  and  as  well,  than 
he  could  drink  as  much  whiskey  as  the  other.  He 
had  seen  nothing  whatever  of  the  world  in  comparison 
with  Governor  Beauchamp,  for  a  long  time  had  read 
nothing,  had  not  a  tithe  of  the  ability  of  the  refugee 
statesman.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  General,  some 
what  jealous  of  him,  endeavored  to  reach  the  higher 
level  of  his  distinguished  friend  by  the  frequency  and 
violence  of  his  oaths. 

"I  see  that  you  indulge  in  profanity,"  the  Governor 
would  remark  to  him  very  often,  as  he  did  now  be 
side  the  horse-rack ;  "  most  —  I  may  say,  all  —  of  my 
friends  do  so,  but  I  do  not  myself.  Washington  ob 
jected  to  it,  as  do  the  ladies  also.  Personally,  I  have 
no  objection  to  it,  none  whatever ;  but  I  do  not  in 
dulge  in  oaths  myself.  But  you  were  remarking — " 

The  General  was  cursing  him  instead,  but  under  his 
breath,  as  a  humbug  and  an  infernal  old  hypocrite. 
Now,  as  ever,  the  reputation  of  his  guest  weighed 
heavily  upon  the  headman  of  the  nation.  "  This  is 
none  other  than  Governor  Beauchamp  !  It  is  a  grand 


110  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

thing  to  have  such  an  old  hero  here !  Confound 
him,"  the  General  complained  every  day  to  himself, 
tf  but  I  can't  make  him  out  even  yet." 

For  that  was  the  trouble  where  this  distinguished 

O 

individual  was  concerned,  —  it  was  impossible  to 
reckon  him  up  with  any  accuracy.  He  made  great 
speeches  in  Congress ;  but  somehow  he  had  never  car 
ried,  while  there,  any  measure  of  marked  importance. 
In  the  hours  of  his  popularity  he  was  the  hero  of 
barbecues  innumerable.  He  would  take  the  stand  at 
nine  o'clock,  and  speak  on  and  on  and  on,  interlarding 
what  he  said  with  anecdotes,  for  hours,  to  a  laughing, 
hurrahing  crowd.  If  the  smell  of  the  beef  and  pigs 
roasting  upon  sticks  laid  across  the  long  ditches  filled 
with  fire  had  not  drawn  his  audience  away,  he  would, 
on  such  occasions,  have  spoken  apparently  on  and  on 
until  dark.  And  yet  nobody  could  make  out  the 
next  day  what,  at  last,  he  had  been  talking  about. 
And  however  unanimously  and  savagely  his  constitu 
ency  cursed  him  in  the  days  of  his  intermittent 
unpopularity,  they  were  as  unable  to  state  definitely 
what  they  hated  him  for,  as  they  had  before  been 
able  to  say  why  they  had  praised  him  so  vehemently. 
He  was  "  a  great  man,"  —  all  agreed  in  that,  —  a 
great  scoundrel,  great  statesman,  great  rascal,  great 
patriot,  —  in  any  case  he  was  great  !  Persis  was  not 
the  only  one  who  was  bewildered  ;  he  said  such  little 
and  yet  such  large  things ;  did,  at  least  attempted 
to  do,  things  so  vast,  and  yet  things  so  exceeding 
small  also ! 
Standing  at  the  horse-rack,  General  Urwoldt  resented 


ONLY  TWO   GIRLS.  Ill 

it,  to-day  as  always,  that  he  could  not  speak  with  the 
unbounded  license  which  he  allowed  himself  with 
every  one  else.  He  knew  that  his  illustrious  friend 
objected  to  no  oath  he  could  venture,  yet,  all  the 
time,  the  portentous  manner  of  the  Governor,  even 
more  than  his  imposing  size,  half  daunted  the  head 
man  of  the  nation.  It  was  like  blaspheming  before 
an  archbishop  in  full  canonicals.  In  his  impatience 
General  Urwoldt  broke  all  bounds,  as  he  stood  talk 
ing  with  him.  To  his  oaths  he  added  details  of  lewd 
adventure ;  but  the  Governor  listened  to  that,  also,  but 
not  as  if  he  had  been  talking  of  the  crops. 

"  I  see  that  you  are  young,  still  young,"  he  remon 
strated  at  last,  and  shook  his  head ;  and,  whittling  all 
the  time  at  a  shingle  he  had  picked  up  off  the  ground, 
there  was  that  in  the  corners  of  his  eyes,  of  his  mouth, 
an  austerity  of  manner,  which  discouraged  the  other 
from  saying  all  he  would ;  now  it  was  like  telling 
doubtful  stories  to  the  Pope. 

"  For  myself,"  the  statesman  added  as  they  parted, 
"  I  have  for  woman  the  profoundest  respect.  They 
nurse  us  in  our  helpless  infancy,  adorn  our  tables  and 
our  homes  in  the  times  of  our  prosperity,  minister  di 
vinely  to  us  in  hours  of  pain  and  anguish.  I  yield  to 
no  man  in  my  most  humble  devotion  to  them."  And 
he  lifted  his  broad-brimmed  hat  from  his  head  with 
one  hand,  waving  his  homage  toward  the  sex  in  gen 
eral  with  the  other,  as  he  said  it.  Then,  General 
Urwoldt  being  obliged  to  leave  him,  the  statesman 
loitered  along  his  aimless  way,  a  Jupiter  condescending 
to  stoop  from  Olympus  to  the  haunts  of  men,  and  all 


112  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

the  more  a  god  by  reason  of  the  clouds  in  which 
he  continued  to  wrap  himself. 

But  it  is  purely  because  of  the  influence  of  this 
man  upon  Eoss  Urwoldt  at  that  period  that  I  say  what 
I  do  concerning  Governor  Beauchamp.  It  is  with 
Eoss,  not  him,  I  have  to  do. 


THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER.        113 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER. 

*  I  ^HE  rolling  by  of  the  river  was  as  if  Time  itself 
-*-  took  visible  shape  in  its  lapse  in  Ocklawahaw,  so 
slowly,  steadily,  did  its  turbid  waters  flow  by  under 
the  bluff  upon  which  the  town  was  built.  As  things 
were  to-day,  so  it  seemed  as  if  they  always  had  been, 
always  would  be. 

So  monotonous  did  things  become  that  Ross,  who 
had  been  to  see  me  once  before  since  leaving  college, 
now  broke  in  upon  me  again  on  my  little  island  on  a 
rapid  visit. 

"  I  am  reading  as  hard  as  I  can,"  he  told  me  before 
he  left,  "  in  a  fashion  as  blind  as  that  of  a  pawpaw  plant 
which  hopes  to  bear  fruit  some  day.  I  am  preparing 
for  whatever  is  to  come.  It  pleases  my  mother.  And 
then,  you  see,  it  enables  me  to  go  back  to  nature  every 
afternoon  with  new  zest.  After  dinner  I  stray  off,  my 
dogs  at  my  heels,  into  the  forest,  and,  rifle  in  hand, 
I  shoot  at  whatever  I  care  to  have  in  more  complete 
possession.  As  often  as  not  I  lie  on  the  ground  ex 
amining  some  bit  of  moss  or  mushroom  through  a 
magnify  ing-glass,  the  fang  of  some  snake  I  have  killed, 
the  feather  of  some  humming-bird  or  woodpecker.  I 
have  given  time  to  exploring  with  my  glass  the  eyes 

8 


114  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

of  an  owl  I  wounded ;  I  wanted  to  see  in  them  wherein 
it  differed  from  me.  We  would  have  made  a  funny 
picture,  the  owl  staring  steadily  at  me,  as  I  held  it 
from  struggling  between  my  knees,  and  I  at  it.  At 
last  it  knew  as  much  of  me  as  I  did  of  it,  more  per 
haps.  When  the  weather  is  cool  and  I  feel  in  the 
mood,  I  mount  my  mare  and  take  a  twenty-mile 
gallop  across  the  prairie.  Maggie  is  as  much  to  me 
as  any  woman  not  my  mother  could  be.  I  say  to 
her,  as  we  ride,  '  Maggie,  I  see  a  long-eared  rabbit ; ' 
and  she  pricks  her  ears  this  way  and  that  until  she 
sees  it,  and  then  goes  off  after  it  without  a  touch  of 
mine  upon  her  flanks  or  mouth,  and  just  as  eagerly 
as  I.  As  we  gain  upon  it  she  lays  her  ears  back, 
awaiting  the  crack  of  my  revolver,  and  looks  and 
waits.  I  know  she  laughs  when,  with  the  report,  the 
rabbit  gives  a  leap  into  the  air  and  tumbles  over. 
So  when  I  see  a  stray  buffalo  off  on  one  side,  or  a 
herd  of  does  grazing.  '  Now  for  it ! '  she  shouts  —  " 

"  I  did  not  know,"  I  said,  "  that  a  horse  could  talk ; 
but  it  does  n't  matter :  go  ahead." 

"  Her  heart  and  mine  are  so  entirely  one,"  Ross 
explained,  "that  it  is  precisely  as  if  she  did  talk. 
In  fact,  she  does  not  need  to  say  anything,  for  we 
have  but  one  heart  between  us.  Her  legs  are  mine. 
When  I  think  of  her  as  of  another  it  is  merely  that 
she  is  better  than  I,  a  woman  who  is  stronger,  has 
two  feet  more  than  I,  who  can  go  faster.  In  Ockla- 
wahaw  we  do  not,"  Ross  interjected,  "  make  as  much 
difference  between  a  squaw  and  a  mare  as  you  might 
suppose.  I  have  never  had  so  absolute  a  friend  as 


THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER.        115 

Maggie,  not  even  in  my  mother."  He  said  this  last 
with  an  effort. 

"  Sometimes  I  light  from  Maggie  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  that  she  may  rest  and  graze  a  little  while. 
I  climb  about  among  the  rocks,  clinking  here  and 
there  with  my  geological  hammer  in  search  of  speci 
mens.  I  have  broken  many  a  shark's  tooth  out  of 
the  rocky  ledges,  have  seen  in  rifts  of  old  red  sand 
stone  the  tracks  left  by  gigantic  birds.  'Yes,  ye 
were  here  ages  on  ages  before  men,'  I  say,  and  am 
glad  to  say,  for,  with  the  single  exception  of  yourself, 
Guernsey,  I  prefer  animals  to  men. 

"  I  intended  to  have  told  you  of  the  hours  I  lay 
upon  the  river-banks,  fishing.  Fish  are  stupid  things. 
I  have  not  often  known  even  a  negro  to  be  more  of  a 
fool  than  a  catfish,  all  mouth.  Dogs  are  vastly  ahead 
of  both.  I  have  sat  for  half  a  day,  the  nose  of  a  dog 
on  my  knee,  talking  to  it.  It  was  not  the  response  of 
its  tail  I  cared  for,  but  —  you  try  it !  Appeal  to  your 
dog,  look  steadily  in  his  eyes,  and  you  can  see  there 
his  '  0  master,  I  would  talk  if  I  could  !  But  why 
say  it  ?  You  know  how  I  love  you.'  Guernsey," 
Ross  added,  "  I  believe  in  nature  !  It  is  the  grandest 
thing  I  know.  Men  are  as  uncertain  as  the  gnats 
which  come  and  go  about  your  nose  on  a  hot  day,  or 
certain  only  in  annoying  you ;  but  nature !  it  is  as 
invariable  in  everything  as  it  is  in  the  rise  and  setting 
of  its  suns.  There  is  unfathomable  mystery  in  it, 
enough  to  satisfy  what  we  call  the  religious  sentiment ; 
and  you  can  rest  in  it  with  utter  trust.  You  see  it, 
hear,  taste,  smell,  feel  it,  —  know  it !  It  amuses  you, 


116  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

—  look  at  its  owls  and  monkeys ;  and  it  astonishes 
you,  —  look  at  its  cataracts,  tempests,  unfathomable 
oceans,  unbounded  atmosphere  !  Why  should  1  delve 
into  myself  to  find  a  something  in  me,  and  call  it  a 
soul  ?  Why  should  I  try,  poor  fool,  to  break  through 
the  blue  skies  and  get  at  a  Maker  ?  I  find  in  nature 
more  than  enough  to  satisfy  my  utmost — " 

"  Ross  ! "  It  was  all  I  said,  lifting  my  finger  as  I 
did  so.  But  my  friend  must  have  felt,  too,  like  a  fib 
bing  school-boy,  for  he  added,  — 

"  At  least,  this  is  true.  I  remember  especially  one 
summer  afternoon  when  I  had  been  lying  deep  in 
the  forest  under  a  live-oak.  My  dogs  were  chained 
up ;  Maggie  was  in  her  stable ;  I  had  studied  hard 
all  the  morning,  and  I  was  thinking  about  Governor 
Beauchamp,  and  — "  He  paused,  but  he  did  not 
add  "my  drunken  father,"  as  he  might  have  done. 
"  I  was  thinking  about  poor,  hard-worked,  tough  little 
Persis  in  her  cabin ;  about  square-faced,  equable, 
stolid  Rachel  playing  the  mother  for  her  distin 
guished  dolt  of  a  father,  —  oh,  about  a  dozen  tilings 
of  the  kind !  The  air  was  pure  and  motionless.  I 
co\ild  see  glimpses  of  the  sky,  could  hear  the  low  mur 
mur  of  growing  and  decaying  nature  about  me.  As  if 
soothed  by  a  lullaby,  I  felt  what  an  atom  I  was  in 
the  universe,  what  a  merest  animalcule  of  the  myriad 
million  I  was ;  and,  as  I  lay,  I  would  so  gladly,  so 
peacefully,  have  lapsed  out  of  existence  if  I  could ! 
A  thousand  things  were  softly  dying  beside  me  as  I 
lay  there,  —  blades  of  grass,  insects,  abortive  acorns. 
It  was  but  a  question  of  a  few  years  longer,  and,  with 


THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER.        117 

all  the  race,  I  would  drop  into  dust  anyhow.  How 
sweet  to  cease  from  living !  I  was  like  a  boy  sliding 
down  a  declivity  on  his  sled  smoothly  on  and  on,  and 
if  I  could  but  slide  down  and  down  and  out.  —  Ah, 
how  sorry  was  I  to  wake  after  an  hour's  sleep  and 
find  —  " 

"  I  have  read  of  you,"  I  said  gravely.  "  The  poet 
Gray  chanced  to  be  watching  you  from  behind  a  mag 
nolia,  —  no,  a  beech-tree ; "  and  I  quoted,  — 

"  '  There  at  the  foot  of  yonder  nodding  beech, 

That  wreathed  its  old,  fantastic  roots  so  high, 
His  listless  length  at  noontide  would  he  stretch, 
And  pore  upon  the  brook  that  babbles  by.' 

You  remember  how,  poor  fellow,  he  drooped  and 
died. 

'One  morn  I  missed  him  on  the  'customed  hill,' 

and  all  the  rest.  It  is  very  sad ! "  And  I  drew  my 
handkerchief  from  my  pocket. 

"  Guernsey  !  "  Koss  Urwoldt  had  been  seated,  a 
cigar  in  his  mouth.  Now  he  stood  up,  smoking 
still,  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  angry,  but  quite  cool. 
"  You  are  the  soul  of  truth,  if  you  are  sentimental," 
he  began. 

"  I  ?  Sentimental  ? "  I  said.  "  Who  was  actually 
dying  upon  the  grass  of  sentimentality  ?  " 

"  As  a  truthful  man,  I  ask  you,"  Eoss  went  on,  "  if 
I  am  a  fellow  of  —  of  that  sort  ? " 

"  No,  you  are  not ! "  I  was  compelled  seemingly 
to  contradict  myself.  It  was  absurd  to  do  other 
wise  ;  of  all  the  men  I  knew,  Ross  was,  then  as  ever, 
the  healthiest.  He  was  never  sick  in  his  life, — 


118  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

after  his  recovery  from  the  small-pox,  at  least ;  and 
that  had  left  him  unscarred,  as  if  his  was  a  con 
stitution  too  tough  for  disease  to  mar.  Even  in  his 
repose  Ross  remained  sinewy  and  strong.  He  had 
not  a 'particle  of  flurry  or  fuss  about  him,  was  never 
nervous  or  thrown  out  by  things  little  or  large,  pain 
ful  or  pleasant.  As  I  have  said,  he  could  remain 
absolutely  still  for  a  longer  period  than  any  man  I 
know,  because  his  rest,  too,  was  as  that  of  a  bow 
string  drawn  tense. 

"  I  thought  I  might  tell  you"  he  now  added.  " Let 
me  add  only  this,  to  be  done  with  it.  If  there  is  a 
man  free  from  toothache  or  rheumatism,  headache  or 
indigestion,  everything  of  the  sort,  I  am.  You  know 
that  I  have  as  keen  a  zest  for  enjoyment  as  you 
have,  Guernsey,  except  that  I  prefer  my  seas  and 
mountains,  my  sunsets  and  groups  of  cattle,  in  nature 
itself,  and  you  affect  a  relish  for  them  on  a  yard  of 
canvas.  I  enjoy  things  as  keenly  as  you  do.  Yes, 
and  I  take  my  full  swing  of  satisfaction,  where  you 
halt,  and  throw  up  your  lady-like  hands  and  scream, 
'  Oh,  it  is  wicked  ! '  I  do  not  care  a  snap  for  the  hate 
or — love,"  but  there  he  hesitated  perceptibly,  "of  any 
one,  you  excepted.  Well,  let  me  say  it  and  be  done 
with  it  forever !  I  tell  you,  Guernsey,  I  have  not 
known  an  hour  when  I  would  not  rather  die  than 
live.  I  go  to  sleep  when  I  first  lie  down,  and  that 
is  more  than  you  do,  old  fellow,  and  I  sleep  like  a 
babe.  Well,  when  I  go  sliding  down,  down,  down 
into  the  depths,  I  almost  invariably  say,  as  I  did 
that  day  in  the  woods,  if  I  could  but  keep  on  and 


THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER.       119 

on  and  —  out  !  It  does  n't  pay  to  live.  I  am  that 
much  of  an  animal,  if  you  please,  —  cat,  eagle,  pig, 
what  you  will ! " 

It  was  not  because  I  was  looking  up  at  him  in  the 
way  I  did,  that  he  colored  a  little  as  he  ceased  to 
speak.  There  was  a  Guernsey  in  the  man  himself 
ten  times  as  contemptuous  of  such  talk  as  I  could  be, 
and  I  knew  ify  and  he  knew  I  knew  it. 

"Do  you  go  to  church?"  I  asked  him  after  a 
while. 

"  To  please  my  mother,  oh,  yes,"  he  said,  "  and  it  is 
very  fine.  You  must  have  heard  the  tree-frogs, 
Guernsey.  Don't  you  remember  ?  As  night  begins 
to  fall,  you  will  hear  from  far  away  a  single  '  Tre-e-e- 
e-e,'  as  shrill  as  from  a  silver  pipe.  Then  silence  closes 
in  upon  it  again,  as  darkness  does  on  a  taper  which  has 
flickered  an  instant  and  gone  out.  The  rest  of  the 
frogs  know  better.  'That  fellow  is  a  fool,  and  has 
begun  too  soon,'  they  say  to  each  other.  In  five 
minutes  or  so  —  and  all  nature  is  waiting  to  hear  — 
another  lizard  —  for  of  course  they  are  not  really  frogs, 
—  cannot  endure  the  suspense,  and  tries  to  start 
things.  '  Trll-1-1-1-1 ! '  '  It  comes  sharper,  shriller  than 
ever;  but  it  is  dead  failure  again,  the  silence  is 
deeper  than  before.  So  here,  there,  from  this  quarter 
from  that,  effort  and  failure,  until  at  last  the  Mozart 
of  the  era  has  arrived.  You  start  at  his  vigorous, 
vibrant  '  Tree-e-e-1-l-e-e-l,'  for  now  all  the  woods  for 
miles  around  join  in.  Not  a  tree-frog  of  the  myriad 
but  is  doing  its  best.  It  is  as  crisp  to  the  ear,  and  as 
fresh,  as  the  best  celery  to  the  taste,  and  for  many  an 


120  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

hour  it  is  kept  up.  It  is  as  if  the  air,  as  far  as  you 
can  see  upon  every  side,  is  full  of  fine  hail,  every 
glittering  atom  a  shrill  sound.  If  the  universal  shrill 
ceases,  lulls,  for  a  moment,  the  old  Mozart  or  some 
young  Wagner  aspiring  to  outdo  him,  begins  again 
with  intense  enthusiasm,  and  all  the  world  joins  in. 
It  is  better  than  opera,  now,  is  n't  it  ? " 

"And  it  is  in  that  way  you  enjoy  the  singing  at 
church  ? "  I  demanded. 

"  Yes ;  for  I  have  got  so,  at  last,"  Ross  said,  "  that  I 
hear  only  the  sounds,  —  sounds  wholly  apart  from  the 
words,  the  sentiments.  When  Persis  looks  at  me  in 
meeting,  and  gives  her  head  a  little  nod  over  the  top 
of  her  melodeon,  —  for  she  plays  it,  —  I  wait  for  the 
beginning  of  the  next  verse,  and  strike  in  as  heartily 
as  any  tree-frog  of  them  all.  When  meeting  is  at 
night,  we  drown  out  the  forest  orchestra  entirely, 
at  least  while  we  sing.  In  the  interval  between  the 
verses  the  outsiders  come  in  with  a  rush  which 
threatens  to  drown  us  out.  I  enjoy  the  one,  as  I  do 
the  other,  very  much.  But  I  care  no  more  for  the 
meaning  of  what  is  said  or  sung,  than  I  do  for  what 
the  frogs  mean,  than  Persis  does  for  the  meaning  of 
the  Latin  she  studies." 

For  the  best  of  reasons  I  had  become  deeply  inter 
ested  in  Persis,  as  in  Eachel  too,  for  that  matter ; 
Ross  had  before  this  either  written  to  me  or  told  me 
upon  his  previous  visit  so  much  about  them.  But  it 
was  chiefly  of  Rachel  that  he  talked  to  me  now. 
She  took  care  of  her  father,  chaffered  with  the  In 
dians  at  her  gate  for  venison,  went  to  the  store  with 


THE  ROLL   OF  THE  RIVER.  121 

Seelye  at  her  heels,  to  buy  supplies ;  he  told  me  all 
about  her,  and  I  was  strangely  interested. 

But  a  letter  arrived  for  Ross  from  his  father,  and 
he  left  me  as  suddenly  as  he  had  come.  As  I  after 
ward  learned,  General  Urwoldt  cared  really  as  little 
for  his  son  as  he  did  for  his  deserted  wife,  and  yet 
he  could  not  fail  to  see  that  Ross  had  grown  up  into 
a  son  of  whom  even  such  a  father  could  not  but  be 
proud.  Moreover,  that  son  must  be  one  day  his  heir. 
That  explained  his  letter.  In  a  sudden  fit  of  gener 
osity  or  jealousy,  —  who  can  tell  which  it  was  ?  —  he 
now  wrote  for  him,  and  "  packed  him  off,"  as  he  him 
self  phrased  it,  for  a  three  months'  trip  to  Europe. 
Ross  made  the  most  of  it,  travelling  rapidly  and  see 
ing  all  he  could. 

On  his  return  his  father  compelled  him  to  take 
entire  charge  of  the  "  Ocklawahaw  Scout,"  for,  by 
this  time,  alcohol  had  consumed  in  General  Urwoldt 
the  last  lingering  taste  for  literature,  even  of  that 
kind,  as  it  long  ago  had  done  for  painting.  Ross 
held  himself  as  independent  of  his  father  as  that 
father  was  of  him,  but  he  accepted  the  work  of  edit 
ing  the  little  sheet.  He  took  even  a  pride  in  it, 
writing  much  for  it  those  days.  But  his  father,  driv 
ing  hard  bargains  still,  suffering  no  one  to  interfere 
in  his  management  of  the  affairs  of  the  natives, 
seemed  to  close  in,  so  to  speak,  upon  himself.  Iden 
tifying  his  son  with  his  quarter-Indian  wife,  he  kept 
up,  as  well  as  he  could,  a  species  of  contempt  for  both, 
saturating  himself  more  thoroughly  every  day  with 
whiskey  and  the  lowest  debauchery. 


122  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Rachel,  meanwhile,  would  have  studied  little  but 
for  Parson  Williams  and  Persis.  She  did  so  at  the 
request  of  these  ;  but  her  heart  was  in  her  housekeep 
ing  instead,  and  she  grew  more  matronly,  young  as 
she  was,  every  hour,  feeding  her  hens  in  the  back 
yard,  having  old  Seelye  stew  whatever  fruit  came  to 
hand  into  preserves,  seeing  about  the  washing  and 
ironing. 

Not  that  Persis  did  not  have  all  that  to  do,  and 
without  any  Seelye  to  help  her,  save  when  Eachel 
and  Seelye  came  over  unasked  and  aided  her  from 
pure  love  of  Persis,  and,  still  more,  of  the  work  itself. 
But  with  Persis  the  household  work  was  a  something 
to  be  got  out  of  the  way  as  soon  as  possible,  that  she 
might  return  to  her  books.  Almost  every  afternoon, 
as  Ross  strolled  by  toward  the  forest,  he  would  stop 
a  moment  to  see  if  he  could  help  her.  For  when  the 
dinner  had  been  eaten  and  the  dishes  were  off  her 
mind,  Persis  sat,  when  the  weather  allowed,  in  a 
certain  shaded  corner  of  the  old  porch  which  ran 
along  in  front  of  the  cabin,  with  her  books  and  slate 
heaped  conveniently  upon  a  "split-bottomed"  chair  be 
side  her.  So  seated,  she  studied  as  hard  as  she  could, 
when  she  was  not  helping  her  grandfather  in  the 
academy,  until  the  time  came  to  prepare  for  supper, 
or  until  some  other  household  care  as  pressing  drew 
her  away. 

One  afternoon  Ross  reined  in  his  horse  as  he  rode 
by,  and  Persis  looked  up  at  him,  but  her  eyes  seemed 
to  see  only  the  page  of  her  book  as  she  looked  in 
his,  and  her  lips  kept  up,  under  a  whisper,  "  TVTTTW, 


THE  ROLL  OF  THE  RIVER,        123 

imperfect,  ervirrov,  perfect,  rerix^a  \  TVTTTW,  CTUTTTOV, 
T€Tii(f>a !  "  for  she  appeared  to  be  too  much  under  the 
impulse  to  stop  all  at  ouce.  But  all  along  she  was 
aware  that  he  was  saying,  — 

"  Why  do  you  study  so  much,  Persis  ? " 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Eoss,  I  have  told  you  so  often !  I  am 
fitting  myself  to  teach."  She  was  more  than  two 
years  older,  and  more  determined  now  than  when  he 
had  first  come  back  from  college.  Deep  down  in  her 
heart,  hidden  as  fearfully  from  herself  as  from  every 
other,  she  cherished  a  yet  deeper  purpose  in  study 
ing  which  made  her  wish  that  he  would  go  and  live 
somewhere,  anywhere,  the  farther  off  from  her  the 
better,  while  it  was  being  accomplished  by  her.  She 
was  only  an  ignorant  girl,  but  her  purpose  lay  in  her 
inmost  heart,  as  the  oak  lies  at  the  heart  of  the 
acorn,  however  blind  and  foolish  the  acorn  is  about  it. 
In  fact,  the  acorn  cannot  help  itself;  no  more  could 
poor  little  Persis. 

"But  you  know  enough  already.  What  do  you 
think  the  Ocklawahaw  children  care  to  learn  about 
moral  philosophy  and  trigonometry  ? "  Eoss  replied. 
"  And  Greek,  as  I  live ! " 

"  I  do  not  intend  to  stay  here,"  she  answered. 

"  Where  are  you  going,  Persis  ? " 

"  How  do  I  know  ?  But  grandpa  is  very  old ; 
some  day  Mr.  Clarke  will  take  his  place  as  mission 
ary.  You  know  he  has  been  studying  the  Bible 
under  grandpa,  and  is  going  to  be  made  a  preacher 
at  the  next  conference." 

"Yes, I  know!"     Eoss  said  it  sharply,  for  hedis- 


124  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

liked  Amasa  Clarke  more  every  day,  missing,  it  is  to 
be  feared,  the  whole  meaning  of  the  limp  and  colorless 
man,  as  he  did  that  of  the  singing,  only  that  Ross 
liked  the  mere  sounds  of  the  hymns,  and  he  did  not 
enjoy  the  outer  man  of  Mr.  Clarke  in  the  least,  —  far 
from  it ;  they  were  too  unlike. 

"  No,  I  do  not  know  where  I  will  go,"  Persis  said, 
with  lowered  eyes ;  "  but  I  intend  to  teach.  I  must 
improve  myself,  and  I  shall  know  well  enough  where 
to  go  when  the  time  comes." 

"  But  Latin  and  Greek  ? "  he  said ;  and  he  laughed 
aloud.  "  It  is  absurd,  and  for  a  girl  so  young  too !  I 
thought  your  grandfather  was  more  sensible  than  to 
allow  such  a  thing." 

Maggie  backed  from  the  fence  as  her  rider  said  it, 
pawed,  tried  to  go  on  ;  the  conversation  did  not  inter 
est  her.  But  she  and  Persis  were  of  the  same  sex  in 
this,  that  both  had  come  of  late  to  recognize  a  certain 
mastership  in  Eoss  Urwoldt,  sitting  erect  in  the  saddle, 
dark,  vigorous,  the  most  efficient,  at  least,  of  the  three. 
His  steady  eyes  would  have  seemed  so  dark  as  to  be 
cold,  cruel,  had  they  not  been  counteracted  somewhat 
by  the  moulding  of  the  chin,  the  fulness  and  curve  of 
the  lips.  Before  long  the  beard  would  hide  a  pleasure- 
loving  softness  therein  which  sweetened  somewhat 
the  face  of  the  young  man.  He  had  no  intention 
of  producing  that  impression,  but  it  was  almost  as  if 
he  had  said,  "  Little  girl,  you  are  only  a  girl,  and  must 
obey  your  superiors,  of  whom  I  am  chief.  Be  a  good 
little  girl,  and  keep  to  sewing  and  washing  dishes." 

At  least,  there  was  something  in  Persis  which  so 


THE  ROLL   OF  THE  RIVER.  125 

interpreted  him  to  her,  and  did  it  as  dumbly  as  the 
sun  produces*  its  effects  in  a  spire  of  gsass.  By  a 
stirring  within  her,  in  consequence,  as  vague  and  yet 
as  inevitable  as  in  the  blade  of  grass  which  lifts  itself 
toward  the  sun,  Persis  also  arose.  Holding  her  book 
in  her  hand,  she  stood  up.  "You  have  been  to  col 
lege  and  to  Europe,"  she  said,  "  you  are  studying 
lard  now;  do  you  think  I  do  not  want  to  know- 
something  too  ? " 

Eoss  glanced  at  her  with  surprise ;  he  had  not 
noticed  how  tall  she  was  coming  to  be.  Who  would 
have  thought  Parson  Williams's  granddaughter  would 
put  on  such  airs  ? 

"  Good  afternoon,  Miss  Persis  Paige,"  he  said,  rais 
ing  his  hand  to  his  felt  hat.  It  was  the  first  time  he 
had  done  so,  and,  giving  Maggie  a  cut  with  his  switch, 
he  was  gone.  Maggie  did  not  care  for  the  blow, 
rather  enjoyed  it,  since  it  was  Ross  who  held  the 
switch.  But,  brown  country  girl  as  she  was,  Persis 
was  the  more  hurt  of  the  two.  She  turned  away 
with  anger,  and  she  had  no  more  to  do  with  putting 
the  glow  on  her  cheeks  than  a  rose  has  with  the 
redness  of  its  leaf.  But  when  she  took  up  her  book 
again,  it  was  to  study  harder  than  before,  by  such 
blind  forces  are  all  we  molecules  impelled. 

"  I  have  given  up  trying  to  learn  Latin  and  Greek," 
she  remarked  none  the  less  to  her  grandfather  that 
night.  "  It  was  silly  in  me  to  try  to  learn  such 
things  yet.  I  am  going  back  to  arithmetic  and  geogra 
phy,  so  that  I  can  know  them  better  to  begin  with,  — 
know  them  better ! " 


126  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  Are  you,  Persis  ?  That  is  right,  my  child."  The 
old  man  Mjpuld  have  said  that,  whatever  her  remark 
had  been,  for  he  was  very  sleepy,  and  went  to  bed 
early  these  nights. 

"  But  I  will  study  them  some  day,  yes,  and  every 
thing  else  too,"  Persis  comforted  herself  amid  her  tears, 
after  she  had  blown  out,  that  night,  the  tallow  candle 
of  her  own  making. 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  127 


CHAPTER   XL 

LESSONS  IN  LIFE. 

TN"  virtue  of  his  out-of-door  life  the  health  of  Eos* 
was  more  vigorous,  if  that  were  possible,  every 
day;  for  he  was  growing  to  be  a  finer  man,  physi 
cally,  than  his  father,  the  handsome  adventurer  who 
had  won  the  hand  and  possessions  of  poor  Mitcha- 
buna.  But  the  Indian  fibre  of  his  mother's  blood 
was  in  him  also,  like  a  cordage  which  tightened  what 
would  otherwise  have  been  in  him  also  the  slackness, 
moral,  mental,  physical,  of  his  worthless  father.  By 
reason  of  his  abundant  and  elastic  health,  when  he 
went  of  mornings  to  his  studies,  he  did  so  with  edge 
and  zest  as  keen  as  when  at  breakfast.  He  reviewed 
his  college  studies,  edited  his  paper,  hammered  at  the 
higher  mathematics,  bent  himself  to  mastering  French 
and  German,  so  far  as  it  could  be  done  without  a 
teacher,  but  found  his  chief  enjoyment  in  natural 
science,  obtaining  for  his  reading  the  latest  publica 
tions  therein,  the  first  sheaves  of  a  literature  which 
has  threatened  since  then,  like  the  coming* of  the 
thistle  into  Australia,  to  crowd  out  every  other 
growth. 

"  I  am  too  old-fashioned  for  such  things,  my  son," 
his  mother  would  say  to  him.  Then,  as  so  often,  she 
fastened  wistful  eyes  upon  him,  fearing  the  beginning 


128  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY, 

in  him  of  the  contempt  for  her  which  her  husband 
had  entertained  so  long.  General  Urwoldt  might  have 
been  kept  in  bounds  by  her,  if  she  had  not  anticipated 
and  encouraged  his  tyranny,  under  stress,  poor  woman ! 
of  generations  of  abject  submission  coming  down  to 
her  in  vein  and  bone.  Eoss  was  incapable  of  being 
to  her  either  slave  or  tyrant.  As  to  his  feelings 
toward  other  women,  that  was  another  matter. 

"  If  you  want  to  talk  about  Cuvier  or  Comte,"  his 
mother  ventured,  "  you  should  try  to  interest  Persis 
in  such  things  or  —  Eachel."  But  she  laughed  as 
she  mentioned  the  name  of  the  Governor's  daughter. 

"  Persis  ! "  Eoss  repeated  the  name  with  seeming 
disdain,  and  went  out.  And  yet  he  could  not  re 
member  when  he  was  not  more  interested  in  her  than 
in  any  other  except  his  mother,  and  now  from  des 
perate  need  of  some  one  to  talk  with,  he  undertook, 
as  the  mouths  passed  by,  to  open  the  mind  of  the  girl 
to  the  wonders  of  scientific  research.  Persis  listened, 
asked  a  question  now  and  then,  but  reserved  her  own 
opinions.  If  she  had  not  listened  so  well,  Eoss  would 
have  put  her  down  beside  Eachel  Beauchamp,  as  too 
womanish  to  care  to  understand. 

"  Why  do  you  not  make  more  of  a  companion  of 
Mr.  Clarke?"  his  mother  would  ask.  "That  is  the 
way  with  men,"  she  complained  when  she  saw  the 
face  her  son  made.  "  It  is  because  he  is  not  fond  of 
hunting,  or  dogs,  or  horses.  Mr.  Clarke  is  of  irre 
proachable  character,  he  teaches  faithfully  in  the 
academy,  he  is  of  an  affectionate  nature,  he  preaches 
good  sermons." 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  129 

Now,  Mr.  Clarke  was  so  fair  and  fat,  so  conciliatory 
and  harmless,  that  the  Indian  scholars  of  the  acad 
emy  had  long  since  nicknamed  him  Pooga-Dooga,  or 
Mush-and-Milk ;  and  Ross  had  no  reply  to  make  now 
to  his  mother.  Coming  events  must  have  sown  in 
his  mind  their  baneful  seeds  in  advance,  for  the 
young  man  almost  hated  his  unconscious  tutor  when 
he  thought  of  him  at  all,  which  he  rarely  did. 

"  There  is  Governor  Beauchamp,"  Ross  said  to  him 
self,  once  while  his  mother  was  praising  Mr.  Clarke. 
"  He  knows  everything.  Why  not  learn  from  him  all 
I  can  ?  It  is  a  good  idea.  Yes,  I  will  drop  study  for 
to-day,"  for  it  was  over  the  breakfast-table  he  had 
been  conversing  with  his  mother,  "  and  go  and  hear 
what  the  old  —  old  enigma  has  to  say." 

Ross  was  very  much  the  master  of  his  own  move 
ments.  His  father  rarely  stayed  an  hour  in  his  house. 
He  occupied,  instead,  a  room  over  his  store,  kept  care 
fully  locked  always,  and  opening  into  his  loft  of  dust- 
covered  paintings.  By  fits  and  starts  he  would  have 
his  son  assist  him  in  the  store,  selling  goods  or  in  the 
keeping  of  his  books.  But  the  two  saw  little  of  each 
other.  Even  if  the  habits  of  General  Urwoldt  had 
not  been  such,  he  was  jealous  of  any  interference  in 
his  business  affairs.  For  Ross  to  get  an  insight  into 
these  would  be  as  if  his  wife  did  so ;  and,  every  day 
and  more  and  more,  he  almost  confounded  the  two 
into  one. 

"  Yes,"  Ross  communed  with  himself  as  he  walked 
after  breakfast  toward  Governor  Beauchamp's  house ; 
"  there  is  much  to  learn  from  the  old  —  old  —  "  It 

9 


130  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

was  hard  to  put  into  words  what  the  Governor  was. 
Scamp,  man  of  the  world,  drunkard,  decayed  states 
man, —  who  could  say  what  he  was?  The  refugee- 
politician  did  not  himself  know. 

"He  is  a  big  and  badly  damaged  encyclopaedia. 
I  '11  turn  a  page  or  two  of  him  before  he  goes  out," 
Eoss  said. 

He  was  just  in  time.  The  one  he  sought  filled 
the  entire  doorway  of  his  house,  coming  out  as  his 
visitor  ascended  the  steps  of  the  porch.  His  daughter 
had  just  given  him  a  thorough  brushing,  and  was 
handing  him  his  yellow  sombrero  hat,  which  she  had 
also  brushed.  It  and  his  clothes  needed  it  that 
morning.  Rachel  and  Seelye  had  contrived,  since 
they  came,  that  he  should  get  drunk  of  afternoons,  if 
possible,  in  the  seclusion  of  a  back  porch  instead  of 
beneath  the  sycamore.  The  afternoon  before  he  had 
eluded  them.  Rachel  and  her  black  ally  had  to 
search  far  and  wide  before  they  found  him  at  last 
down  the  river-bank,  prostrate,  bemired.  There  were 
stolid  Indians  and  worse  white  men  loafing  about, 
but  these  were  hopeless  of  stealing  anything  from 
pockets  so  often  searched  by  them  in  vain.  But 
Rachel  had  the  money,  she  would  pay  them ;  and,  a 
negro  or  two  doing  most  of  the  work,  they  had  him 
home  at  the  end, — an  object  from  which  even  Indian 
and  negro  recoiled. 

His  sodden  clothes  had  been  drying  before  the 
kitchen  fire  the  rest  of  the  night,  and  Seelye  hud 
given  an  hour's  work  to  cleaning  them,  in  the  inter 
vals  of  getting  breakfast.  He  had  wakened  perfectly 


LESSOA7S  IN  LIFE.  131 

refreshed,  had  eaten  a  hearty  breakfast,  was  ready  for 
the  doing  nothing  whatever  of  another  day. 

"  Thank  you,  my  child,"  he  was  saying  to  Eachel 
as  Ross  came  near ;  "  study  if  you  find  time,  read  the 
books  I  mentioned  to  you,  improve  your  mind,  my 
dear ! "  He  laid  his  large  left  hand  upon  her  hair 
while  he  gravely  settled  his  flapping  hat  upon  his 
stately  head  with  the  other.  "  Heaven  guard  you, 
my  dear ! " 

Rachel  had  grown  during  these  years  as  wrell  as 
Persis,  but  she  had  broadened  as  she  grew.  Hers 
was  a  comely  face,  for  it  had  a  German  simplicity 
and  solidity,  with  fair  complexion,  red  cheeks,  flaxen 
hair,  blue  and  sedate  eyes.  As  to  her  father,  he  had 
always  drank,  always  would;  she  accepted  drunken 
ness  in  him  as  she  did  blackness  in  Seelye.  As  Ross 
came  up  the  steps,  she  smiled  upon  him  and  nodded, 
bravely  unconscious  that  hers  was  not  the  most 
virtuous  parent  alive,  and  went  back  into  the  house 
to  see  what  there  was  for  dinner. 

Except  in  the  dignified,  not  to  say  haughty,  stage 
of  inebriety  which  went  before  utter  downfall,  Gov 
ernor  Beauchamp  was  the  most  accessible  of  men,  but 
under  his  own  roof  his  affability  became  cordiality. 
Now  his  greeting  was  effusive,  but  it  was  gracious 
too.  He  was  a  great  man  in  retirement,  —  George 
Washington  at  Mount  Vernon.  So  thoroughly  did 
the  man  think  this  of  himself,  that  every  gesture  and 
tone  was  in  accordance ;  so  thoroughly  did  he  think 
and  feel  so,  that  he  compelled  his  visitor  also  into 
the  delusion. 


132  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"I  am  delighted  to  see  you,  sir.  Send  us  out 
chairs,  my  child.  Sit  down,  sir,  sit  down.  Glad  to 
see  you,  sir ! "  And  the  statesman  removed  his  hat, 
insisted  upon  taking  that  of  Ross  also,  deposited 
them  both  upon  the  table  in  the  hall,  and  came  out 
again  and  seated  himself  in  the  capacious  hide-bot 
tomed  rocking-chair  which  Rachel  had  drawn  out. 

"  I  thank  you,  my  child,"  in  round,  detached,  well- 
oiled,  sonorous  words  which  it  is  impossible  to  de 
scribe,  so  virtuous,  benignant,  they  were  made  by  the 
manner,  also,  in  which  they  were  given  out  like  alms ; 
then  he  turned  to  his  visitor. 

"  And  how  is  the  lady,  your  mother  ?  Your  father 
and  my  friend,  General  Urwoldt,  he  is  well,  is  he 
not  ?  It  is  delightful  weather  with  which  Providence 
has  blessed  us  to-day." 

But  Ross  was  trying,  as  he  sat,  to  get  what  a  sailor 
would  call  his  "bearings."  He  was  constructed  in 
that  way;  he  must  see  clearly,  must  understand 
things.  "If  this  was  Falstaff,  for  instance,  I  would 
know  how  to  act,"  he  murmured  to  himself.  "Fal 
staff?"  and  one  glance  at  the  statesman  refuted  the 
vile  aspersion.  "Falstaff?  This  is  the  Chief  Jus 
tice  of  England,  instead,  who  rebuked  the  fat  knight 
upon  London  street."  Ross  Urwoldt  was  young  and 
modest,  but  he  was  strong,  too,  and  straightforward. 
Here  were  several  men  in  one  ample  individual. 
What  Ross  said  must  be  without  special  aim,  like 
firing  into  buffalo  in  uncertain  and  changing  mass. 

"  But  then,  all  I  have  to  do  is  to  listen,"  he  re 
assured  himself;  for  his  host  was  talking  on,  in  his 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  133 

slow,  affluent  way,  about  the  crops,  about  how  much 
per  bushel  corn  would  be  likely  to  bring,  cotton  also, 
sugar  likewise.  There  was  nothing  for  the  visitor  to 
do  but  to  listen.  He  yielded  himself  as,  when  swim 
ming,  he  might  for  his  amusement  have  done  to  the 
flow  of  the  river,  turbid,  full  of  cross-currents. 

But  what  Governor  Beauchamp  said  was  worth 
listening  to.  He  had  seen  all  varieties  of  fortune,  as 
of  men.  What  he  said  was  more  than  sensible.  He 
seemed  to  know  men  from  their  depths  upward ;  that 
is,  he  took  hold  of  them  by  their  most  hidden  pecu 
liarity  first,  and  as  matter  of  course, —  for  the  old  poli 
tician  speedily  passed  from  crops  to  men.  It  was 
evident  that  the  sugar,  corn,  cotton,  like  the  sun,  moon, 
and  stars,  were  as  nothing  to  him  in  comparison  with 
these.  He  appeared  to  have  known  almost  every 
leading  man  in  America  of  the  last  twro  generations, 
—  to  have  known  him  personally,  perfectly.  As  he 
talked  on  and  on,  one  name  suggesting  another,  it 
struck  Ross  that  his  host  was  as  impartial  as  if  he 
were  forever  done  with  men,  were  dead. 

It  was  impossible  to  get  away.  As  the  Governor 
talked,  he  produced  a  species  of  bone  bodkin,  and 
used  it  gravely  and  carefully  in  extracting  the  wax 
from  his  ears,  examining  the  results  as  he  talked 
and  talked.  Next,  he  drew  out  of  his  vest-pocket, 
leaning  far  back  in  his  rocking-chair  to  enable  him  to 
do  so,  a  wooden  pair  of  combs,  clasped  one  in  the 
other.  Holding  one  in  his  left  hand,  he  combed 
away  at  his  tawny  beard,  relieving  that  hand  by  using 
the  other  upon  the  other  side,  but  talking,  talking, 


134  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY, 

talking,  in  the  most  leisurely  but  unhesitating  manner, 
as  he  did  so ;  stopping  now  and  then  to  disentangle, 
roll  into  a  pellet,  and  cast  away  the  hairs  which  the 
implement  brought  away,  but  never  ceasing  to  talk. 

Ross  listened  with  interest.  McDuffie,  Jefferson, 
Adams,  Clay,  Van  Buren,  Jackson,  Webster,  Dallas, 
Cass,  Silas  Wright,  Nicholas  Biddle,  Calhoun,  Amos 
Kendall,  Benton,  George  D.  Prentice,  Hayne,  —  the 
list  seemed  interminable.  The  Tariff,  Nullification, 
Bullion,  the  United  States  Bank,  Pre-emption,  Inter 
nal  Improvements,  —  the  topics  were  many,  but  these 
were  but  the  ligaments  which  held  the  men  of  whom 
he  spoke  into  a  sort  of  Siamese-twinship  of  uniform 
and  absolute  rascality.  There  was  this  to  be  said  for 
one  man,  and  that  for  the  other ;  but,  after  all  allow 
ance  had  been  made,  the  man  was,  at  bottom,  a 
knave.  "Eloquent,  sir,  but  a  rascal."  "Able,  sir, 
but  a  thief."  "  A  Talleyrand,  sir,  in  diplomacy,  and, 
like  Talleyrand,  wholly  without  principle."  "And 
there  was  Jackson.  He  was  a  pure  man,  sir,  Old 
Hickory  was,  and  yet  but  a  mere  baby  in  the  hands 
of  his  partisans ;  vindictive,  too,  as  a  devil,  he  never 
forgave  an  enemy."  "  Yes,  sir,  I  knew  the  Senator  of 
whom  you  inquire,  knew  him  well ;  and  although  he 
was  a  statesman,  he  was  unchaste,  abominably  so,  sir." 

It  was  a  relief  to  his  young  friend  when  the  Gov 
ernor  took  occasion  to  add :  "  As  you  cannot  but  have 
observed,  the  men  of  whom  I  have  spoken  are  weak 
or  wicked,  pitifully  weak,  very  wicked.  But  it  is 
not  true  of  women,  sir.  No,  sir !  I  honor  the  sex. 
They  are  angels,  sir,  —  angels  of  beauty,  angels  of 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  135 

pity,  angels  of  purity.  Perish  the  tongue  that  speaks 
ill  of  woman !  They  have  my  poor,  but  unfeigned 
homage,  sir."  And  the  speaker  lifted  his  broad  palm, 
pressed  it  respectfully  upon  his  ample  forehead,  and 
waved  toward  woman  his  profoundest  regards. 

"  But  for  them,  sir,  our  entire  world  is  but  a  frost 
bitten  sweet-potato,  worthless  to  the  core.  And,  pure 
as  they  themselves  are,  they  are  powerless  to  restrain 
our  worthless  sex.  I  honor  the  clergy,  but  they,  alas  ! 
are  as  helpless  as  woman.  I  have  known  the  world 
long,  sir,  have  known  it  well,  have  known  it  thor 
oughly.  It  is  a  bad  world,  sir,  — thoroughly,  hopelessly 
bad !  You  are  yet  a  youth ;  when  you  are  as  old  as 
I,  you  will  have  found  it  to  be  all  I  describe.  I  am 
not  an  angel,  sir,  far  from  that,  yet  have  I  fled  from  it. 
Never  enter  its  broader  scenes  if  you  can.  You  have, 
I  am  informed,  great  abilities.  They  will  prove  to  be 
but  a  curse  to  you,  sir,  if  they  impel  you  to  forsake 
your  peaceful  and  virtuous  seclusion.  Live  in  Ock- 
lawahaw  all  the  days  your  Maker  may  be  pleased  to 
allot  you ;  die  here,  sir  ! " 

The  disenchanted  statesman  clasped  together  his 
wooden  combs,  drew  out  of  his  pocket  a  well-worn 
knife,  and  looked  about  in  a  helpless  fashion.  His 
visitor  understood  his  need,  and  with  a  "Will  you 
permit  me,  sir  ? "  he  descended  the  steps,  searched 
until  he  found  a  half-shingle  under  the  lee  of  the 
house.  Coming  back,  he  handed  it  to  his  host. 
It  was  not  as  clean  as  it  might  be,  but  Governor 
Beauchamp  received  it  as  he  would  have  done  an 
official  document.  "I  thank  you,  sir!  Accept  my 


136  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

thanks  for  your  thoughtful  kindness."  And  he 
smoothed  off  the  edges  with  his  knife  toward  more 
elaborate  whittling. 

"You  have  had  a  varied  experience,  Governor," 
Ross  said  deferentially. 

But  his  host  continued  to  trim  the  wood  for  quite 
a  time  in  silence.  "  Your  remark  is  quite  correct. 
I  have  had  a  long  and,  I  may  venture  to  assert,  a 
diversified  experience.  Of  men,"  he  added,  after  a 
while.  "  Yes,  you  are  correct  in  your  remark,  sir." 

There  was  another  pause.  Ross  could  hear  the 
jingle  of  spoons  and  dishes  in  the  house,  occasionally 
the  subdued  song  of  Seelye,  of  which  the  refrain 
was, — 

"  De  reapin'  time  will  shore-ly  come, 
An'  my  good  Lord  will  call  me  home," 

interrupted  now  and  then  by  "Yes,  Miss  Rachel," 
followed  by  the  inarticulate  murmur  of  a  household 
consultation  between  the  two. 

"Your  assertion  is  but  the  truth,  sir,"  the  old  poli 
tician  resumed  at  last.  His  tones  were  lower  than 
usual,  he  appeared  to  be  in  a  more  thoughtful  mood, 
when,  holding  his  shingle  off  from  time  to  time  to 
see  if  it  was  properly  shaped,  he  told,  as  he  whittled, 
the  story  of  his  life,  from  his  earliest  efforts  as  a 
farm-hand,  then  as  a  self-taught  teacher,  then  as  a 
cadet.  From  that  he  passed  rapidly  over  his  adven 
tures  in  Florida,  in  political  life,  making  no  allusion 
to  his  flight  from  the  Executive  chair. 

"  It  is  too  long  a  story  to  tell,  my  experiences 
of  life,"  he  summed  up  at  the  end,  "  but  you  can 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  137 

gather  this,  my  dear  young  friend.  I  was  ambitious, 
more  so  perhaps  than  you  are  now.  I  toiled  night 
and  day,  endeavored  to  perform  my  duty  to  God 
and  my  country,  endured  every  form  of  contumely. 
Nor  have  I  been  without  my  times  of  recompense. 
If  men  have  hissed  at  and  hounded  me,  they  have 
also  applauded.  I  have  often  felt  as  if  I  was  about 
to  be  rewarded  at  last  for  all.  And  what  is  the  re 
sult  ?  To  be  impoverished ;  to  be  vilified ;  to  be 
utterly  misunderstood  of  even  my  apparent  friends ; 
to  eat  of  the  apples  of  Sodom  which  turn  to  ashes  on 
the  lips ;  to  accomplish  nothing  worthy  the  effort. 
In  vain,  my  young  sir,  does  the  infidelity  of  the  day 
assault  Holy  Writ.  All  is  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit !  It  is  a  bad  world,  as  I  have  remarked,  —  a 
miserably  bad  world !  Save  for  woman,  it  is  a  botch 
and  a  failure.  If  I  were  its  Creator,"  and  the  speaker 
ceased  to  whittle,  looking  at  the  other  with  a  majestic 
sadness  in  his  eyes,  "  I  would,"  and  he  held  out  his 
great  hand,  examining  the  palm  and  then  the  hairy 
back  of  it,  —  "I  would  fling  it  from  my  hand,"  and 
he  illustrated  it  by  a  gesture,  "  as  I  would  a  clot  of 
abhorrent  filth,  —  yes,  sir,  vilest  filth!"  his  counte 
nance  expressing  in  every  line  his  disgust. 

"  The  best  man  in  all  my  knowledge,"  he  con 
tinued,  after  grave  reflection,  "  was  a  Senator  of  the 
United  States,  with  whom  I  was  intimately  associated, 
9,nd  for  many  years.  He  was  a  monarch  among  men, 
tsir,  broad  and  vigorous.  I  think  he  must  have  been, 
when  of  your  age,  very  much  what  you  now  are; 
and  he  grew  up  to  be,  as  I  trust  you  will  remain, 


138  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

dark  of  aspect,  because  reticent  and  deep,  steady  and 
strong.  Of  all  public  men  in  my  acquaintance  he 
alone  had  no  enemy,  so  modest  was  he  and  honorable, 
so  thoughtful  of  others  and  courteous.  No  Senator 
had  as  little  to  say  as  he ;  but  when  he  did  speak,  his 
few,  sensible  words,  always  to  the  marrow  of  the 
matter,  generally  decided  the  question.  Sir,  Daniel 
Webster  told  me  one  day  with  his  own  lips,  that  he 
regarded  the  Senator  of  whom  I  speak  as  one  who 
was  wise,  pure,  true,  to  be  thoroughly  relied  upon. 
'He  has  the  strongest  native  sense,  original  good 
judgment,'  Mr.  Webster  observed,  'of  any  man  it 
has  been  my  privilege  to  know.'  That  Senator," 
Governor  Beauchamp  went  on  in  lower  tones,  "  was 
rich,  was  secure  in  his  seat  for  life,  might  aspire,  if 
he  cared  to  do  so,  to  anything  higher  in  the  gift  of 
the  people.  He  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be  ill, 
to  have  a  bodily  pain.  But  he  had  worthless  sons, 
sir,  —  sons  who  drank.  So  long  as  his  wife  was  left 
him  he  could  endure  it.  But  she  died,  sir,  —  died. 
The  day  after  her  funeral,  he  arose  from  sitting  upon 
the  front  porch  of  his  house,  as  we  are  now  seated 
here,  took  down  his  double-barrel  shot-gun,  went 
into  the  yard  behind  his  house,  and  blew  out  his 
brains  !  While  living  he  had  the  weighty  aspect  of  a 
great  statesman.  He  was  like  a  statue  of  bronze 
which  is  too  large  for  its  pedestal.  This  most  miser 
able  world  was  too  poor,  too  mean,  too  wretchedly 
small,  for  such  a  man !  He  could  not  find  refuge,  as 
some  have  done,  in  drink ;  he  found  it  —  and  who  can 
blame  him  ?  —  in  death." 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  139 

It  was  plain  that  the  speaker  was  narrating  what 
was  true.  His  eyes  were  moist,  he  was  entirely  sin 
cere.  His  visitor  arose  to  go.  It  was  in  vain,  as 
the  dinner-bell  rang,  that  Eachel  came  out  and  urged 
him,  with  the  smiling  face  of  a  housekeeper  who  has 
made  special  preparation,  to  dine  with  them.  Her 
father  added  his  urgency  in  vain.  Eoss  had  no  appe 
tite,  and  his  ponderous  host  followed  him  down  the 
front  steps.  As  he  opened  the  gate  to  let  him  out, 
"  My  dear  Mr.  Eoss,"  he  said,  bareheaded,  and  retain 
ing  the  hand  of  his  visitor  in  his  own,  "  I  would  not 
sadden  your  life,  and  you  are  capable  of  great  things 
perhaps ;  but  I  am  an  old  man,  have  seen  the  world 
through  and  through.  It  is  a  dirty  dime  lying  in  the 
gutter,  not  worth  picking  up  !  God  bless  you,  my 
young  friend,  and  remember  that  the  only  object 
worth  living  for  is  some  virtuous  woman  !  Heaven 
keep  you,  and  good-by  until  we  meet  again.  Stay," 
he  added,  when  his  visitor  had  closed  the  gate  be 
tween  them,  laying  his  hand  upon  the  shoulder  of 
Eoss.  "  I  do  not  like  men  in  general,  but  for  you,  my 
young  friend,  I  feel  a  deep  concern ;  there  is  that  in 
you  which  warrants  me  in  so  doing.  Listen.  I  speak 
of  woman,  sir.  But  I  do  not  refer  to  all  persons  of 
that  sex.  I  have  known  some  of  the  most  distin 
guished  ladies  of  this  and  other  lands  —  ladies  of 
rank,  wealth,  beauty  ;  ladies  learned,  gifted,  brilliant; 
ladies  who  were  leaders  of  fashion,  artists,  writers, 
queens  of  society.  I  have  not  learned  to  like  men  ; 
the  ablest  are  often  the  worst ;  and  the  ladies  I  speak 
of  were  unfeminine,  —  were,  in  my  poor  judgment,  but 


140  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

abortive  men  at  best,  Voltaires  in  crinoline,  Aaron 
Burrs  in  petticoats  and  curls.  It  is  not  of  these,  it 
is  of  woman,  I  would  speak!  Woman  such  as  was 
the  wife  of  Jackson,  of  Clay,  of  Walter  Scott ; 
woman  living  not  for  society,  for  herself,  but  for 
others,  for  her  own  sacred  hearth ;  woman,  sir,  gentle, 
retiring,  sensible,  modest,  loving,  —  woman  as  God 
made  her!  My  wife,  sir  — "  And  Eoss  felt  that 
the  hand  laid  upon  his  shoulder  was  trembling.  "  It 
is  of  the  mother  of  my  daughter,  —  my  most  estima 
ble,  wife,  sir  —  "  Ross  let  his  eyes  fall ;  adown  the 
broad  face  of  the  Governor  the  tears  were  flowing 
freely.  "  She  was  the  type  of  woman  of  whom  I 
tried  to  speak.  Of  her,  sir,  I  was  unworthy —  Had 
she  lived  —  "  And  the  old  statesman  turned  away. 

It  flashed  upon  Eoss,  as  he  walked  off,  that  he 
had  heard  something,  he  could  not  recall  what,  of  the 
wife  of  the  Governor.  Yes,  she  had  been  an  excellent 
woman.  She  had  been  everything  to  her  husband, 
who  was  said  to  have  been  devoted  to  her  till  her 
death.  "  One  can  see  that  in  Eachel,"  Eoss  said. 

Beside  his  mother,  Eoss  really  knew  and  cared  for 
but  two  of  the  sex,  —  Eachel  and  Persis.  "  As  to  my 
mother,"  he  now  said  to  himself  as  he  went,  "  I  am  afraid, 
almost  afraid  — "  He  did  not  put  his  fear  into  words, 
even  to  himself.  Was  it  possible  that,  as  she  became 
older,  she  was  losing  her  refinement  of  manner  ? 
Could  an  educated  lady  forget  her  education  when  left 
to  live  in  a  place  like  Ocklawahaw  ?  Was  it  conceiv 
able  that,  as  the  days  passed,  she  could  slowly  slide 
back  again  into  the  degradation  of  her  ancestry,  and 


LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  141 

become,  by  -unconscious  degrees,  merely  a  squaw 
again,  a  squalid  squaw !  This  thing  and  that,  little 
phrases  she  was  coining  to  use,  small  negligences 
about  her  household  and  her  dress,  almost  impercep 
tible  indolences,  coarsenesses,  laughter  at  times  with 
out  sufficient  cause,  and  tears  too,  —  the  son  put  his 
remembrances  from  him  with  dismay.  "  It  is  because 
I  inherit  from  her  blood  and  from  my  father  my  base 
estimate  of  woman,"  he  said,  "that  I  imagine  such 
things." 

Eoss  Urwoldt  was  too  healthy  of  body,  as  of  mind, 
to  suffer  himself  to  be  lastingly  depressed.  He  did 
not  care,  however,  to  go  home  to  dinner,  and  wandered, 
as  often  before,  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  until, 
seated  at  last  under  a  cotton-wood  tree  which  over 
hung  the  water,  he  sank  into  thought.  The  muddy 
stream  drew  itself  slowly  along,  more  like  a  current 
of  syrup,  so  thick  and  dark  it  was  from  late  freshets, 
than  anything  else.  A  few  yards  to  the  left  from 
where  he  sat,  a  well-worn  path  ended  at  the  edge 
where  the  women,  when  any  dead  thing  was  found  in 
the  village  spring,  came  for  water.  Just  there,  as  at 
many  places  along  the  bank,  the  current  turned  upon 
itself,  making  an  eddy  which  boiled  up  from  below 
like  a  caldron.  As  Eoss  sat  he  heard,  with  a  hunter's 
quickness,  a  light  step  along  the  path,  and  saw  that 
it  was  Persis,  bucket  in  hand.  She  had  been  sick  for 
some  days,  and  his  heart  smote  him  as  he  saw  how 
thin  and  pale  she  seemed  to  be.  Surely  her  dress 
was  too  poor  and  worn.  She  was  studying  too  hard  ! 
She  stooped  over  the  river,  and,  holding  the  handle  of 


142  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

her  heavy  wooden  vessel,  plunged  it  in.  Her  haste 
was  such  that  she  did  it  too  deeply,  was  leaning  over 
too  far.  In  an  instant  the  swollen  torrent  had  seized 
upon  the  bucket,  had  dragged  her  in  after  it,  head 
long. 

In  the  same  breath  Ross  sprang  to  his  feet,  ran  to 
a  point  below  where  Persis  had  fallen,  and  leaped  in, 
astonished  as  he  did  so  at  the  sullen  fury  of  the 
water.  To  him,  in  his  clothes  too,  it  was  like  a  flow 
of  cold  but  liquid  lead,  and  it  was  a  perilous  time  be 
fore  he  could  lay  hold  upon  and  bear  out  the  poor 
girl,  at  a  jutting  bank  of  mud  a  hundred  feet  below. 

For  a  moment  he  was  compelled  to  sit  down,  the 
dripping  and  unconscious  body  in  his  arms,  he  was  so 
exhausted  by  his  effort.  Persis  lay,  her  face  white 
and  cold  upon  his  shoulder,  her  hair  in  streaming 
strings  on  either  side.  She  was  not  beautiful.  Her 
pallid  face  was  too  intense,  too  pinched,  yet,  knowing 
what  her  life  had  been,  knowing  the  unselfish  and 
unconquerable  spirit  of  the  poor  child,  a  sudden  pity 
seized  upon  her  rescuer.  He  had  seen,  he  now  felt, 
as  she  lay  in  his  arms,  how  frail  she  was.  Even  in 
her  wet  clothing  she  was  so  light  that  Ross  wondered 
at  it.  It  was  only  her  emaciated  body  he  had  saved. 
"  It  was  Persis,"  Ross  murmured,  "  but  it  is  Persis  no 
more.  What  a  martyr  Persis  was,  and  Persis  is 
dead!" 

More  than  once  I  remonstrated  with  Ross  when 
we  were  in  college  together.  "  You  have  less  com 
passion  in  your  make,"  I  told  him,  "  than  anybody  I 
know.  Do  you  know  what  it  means  to  feel  for  those 


'  LESSONS  IN  LIFE.  143 

weaker  than  yourself  ?  "  Perhaps  it  was  because  he 
had  been  so  unused  to  such  an  emotion,  but  now  a 
deep  pity  came  upon  him.  It  was  the  instant  crea 
tion  in  him  of  a  new  faculty ;  his  inmost  heart  was 
changed ;  the  tears  rushed  to  his  eyes ;  he  stooped 
down  and  kissed  the  poor  lips  by  an  impulse  too  na 
tive  to  be  resisted ;  and  then  he  arose  and,  forgetful 
of  his  clothes  wet  and  clinging  about  him,  he  ran  like 
a  deer,  the  girl  little  more  than  a  rifle's  weight  in  his 
arms,  nor  stopped  until  he  had  laid  her  upon  her  bed 
beside  her  grandfather,  who  was  pondering  over  his 
old  Concordance  at  a  little  table.  Parson  Williams 
was  the  physician  too  of  the  town,  and  Ross  said  but 
a  word  to  him,  and  ran  more  rapidly  still  to  his  own 
house  to  send  his  mother,  and  then  to  the  home  of 
Rachel. 

"  It  struck  me  even  then,"  Ross  told  me  afterward, 
"  that  Rachel,  I  knew  not  why,  could  do  more  than 
anybody  else  for  Persis.  To  this  hour  I  am  satisfied 
that  it  was  Rachel  who  saved  her." 


144  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

ONE  OF  THE   CERTAINTIES. 

TF  the  will  of  Persis  had  been  upon  the  same  scale 
•*•  with  her  body,  she  would  have  come  out  of  her 
unconscious  condition  merely  to  die  of  exhaustion. 
Rachel,  always  wise  where  mathematics  were  not  con 
cerned,  was  particularly  so  in  this,  that,  a  few  days 
after,  somewhat  sooner  than  other  people  would  have 
done  so,  she  told  Persis  the  story  of  her  rescue  by  Ross. 
It  was  not  deliberate  purpose  in  Rachel.  There  was 
nothing  more  in  it  than  her  intuition,  wiser  than  all 
^purpose ;  but  it  rallied  to  the  help  of  Persis,  more  than 
anything  else  could  have  done,  her  staggering  will,  by 
kindling  behind  and  beneath  it  those  divine  fires  in 
and  by  which,  in  a  woman,  the  will  is  shaped.  Before 
Rachel  spoke  Persis  was  lying  too  weak  to  move,  pal 
lid  as  death,  wilted  into  utter  indifference  to  every 
thing,  feebly  wishing,  so  far  as  she  could  frame  a  wish, 
that  she  had  been  left  in  the  sweet  rest  and  un 
consciousness  of  her  watery  grave.  Her  eyes,  half 
opened  and  colorless,  hardly  saw  the  face  of  her  friend. 
Now,  in  the  same  breath  of  telling  her  the  story  of 
her  escape,  Rachel  exclaimed,  "  What  is  it,  Persis  ? " 

Even  Rachel  was  taken  by  surprise.     She  would 
not  have  been  had  she  known  what  Persis  had  cher- 


ONE  OF  THE   CERTAINTIES.  145 

ished  in  her  deepest  soul  this  many  a  day.  Her  eyes 
opened  and  almost  sparkled;  her  color  came;  she 
laughed.  "  Kiss  me,  dear,"  she  demanded  of  Rachel. 
Then  she  tried  to  sit  up,  saying,  "  I  want  something 
to  eat.  Get  it,  dear." 

Rachel  went  to  the  pantry,  wondering ;  but  Persis 
was  disappointed  of  her  desire  to  be  by  herself  if  but 
a  moment,  for  first  her  grandfather  came  back  into 
the  room,  and  then  Mitchabuna.  They  were  aston 
ished  at  her  appetite.  It  was  a  craving  for  the 
strength  food  brings,  that  Persis  suddenly  experienced. 
She  had  not  been  without  will  before.  It  was  so 
much  clearer  now  and  stronger  !  Beneath  it  had  lain 
before  but  a  quivering  spark,  now  the  spark  had  shot 
up  into  a  steady  fire.  For  her  life  the  girl  could  not 
have  explained  it  to  herself,  was  almost  frightened  at 
it.  We  have  little  to  do  with  the  processes  within 
us  ;  they  are  certain  because  they  are  divine. 

As  to  Ross,  he  was  astonished  at  himself  that  he 
should  be  so  shy  of  seeing  Persis,  and  that  when  there 
was  nobody  he  wanted  so  much  to  see.  What  reason 
could  there  be  for  it  ?  It  was  but  once  that  Persis  be 
gan  to  thank  him.  She  did  not  try  to  do  so  again. 

"  I  suppose  it  is  because  it  is  such  a  fine  day,"  Ross 
explained  to  himself  as  he  went  out  one  morning, 
many  weeks  after  Persis  was  able  to  get  about,  and  it 
was  of  his  almost  extravagant  spirits  he  was  think 
ing.  It  was  the  fall  of  the  year.  The  sky  was  cloud 
less  and  of  a  steel  blue.  There  was  an  exhilaration 
in  the  air,  as  if  it  also  had  ripened  with  the  maturing 
apples,  as  if  it  had,  like  wine,  grown  stronger  with  the 

10 


146  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

passing  of  the  seasons.  Although  he  did  not  suffer 
his  enjoyment  to  show  itself,  so  to  speak,  even  to  him 
self,  he  never  had  felt  quite  so  happy. 

It  may  have  been  nature,  but,  if  so,  the  happiness 
it  awakened  sank  suddenly  inward  as  he  came  upon 
Persis  going  toward  the  sycamore,  book  and  slate  in 
hand,  for  a  quiet  but  more  determined  effort  than 
before  with  her  neglected  algebra.  A  gentleness  fell 
upon  both  as  Eoss  walked  beside  her,  pained  to  see 
how  frail  she  still  seemed  to  be,  but  saying,  — 

"  Do  you  notice  what  a  deep  green  the  grass  puts 
on,  and  the  leaves,  before  they  turn  brown  ?  See  how 
it  is  brought  out  by  the  lighter  green  of  the  pine- 
needles  overhead,  the  darker  hue  of  the  mesquit-bush 
sparkling  with  its  red  berries.  Look,  Persis,  at  the 
tender  gray  of  the  moss  swinging  from  the  trees,  the 
bronze  of  the  live-oak  leaves,  the  iron  blackness  of  its 
trunk  and  limbs  level  with  the  earth.  Did  you  ever 
observe,"  Ross  was  surprised  to  hear  himself  say  it, 
"  how  the  colors  of  nature  help  each  other  out  ?  You 
play  and  sing,  and  you  ought  to  understand  such 
things  ;  it  is  like  the  varying  chords,  is  it  not,  in 
music  ? " 

Persis  glanced  keenly  at  him,  and  then  let  her  eyes 
fall ;  if  he  was  clearer  of  vision,  as  in  every  other 
sense,  than  before,  so  was  she.  But  all  she  said 
was, — 

"  I  did  not  know  you  were  a  poet,  Mr.  Ross." 

She  had  become,  young  as  she  was,  almost  a  woman, 
and  he  a  man,  all  at  once. 

"  A  poet !  never !    I  detest  poetry,"  he  replied.    "  I 


ONE  OF  THE   CERTAINTIES.  147 

love  nature  instead.      It  is  a  weakness  to  love  it  so 
much.     That  is  for  women  to  do." 

"  Here  is  the  old  sycamore.  Good  morning,"  said 
Persis ;  "  I  must  study  hard."  And,  strange  to  say,  she 
was  glad  when  he  was  gone.  "  No,"  she  had  replied 
to  his  offered  help ;  "  I  want  to  do  my  problems  by 
myself  and  for  myself."  For,  almost  as  strong  as  her 
love  for  Eoss,  the  purpose  of  Persis  was  becoming  in 
her  a  passion.  She  knew  how  women  were  regarded 
in  Ocklawahaw,  what  General  Urwoldt  thought  of  his 
wife.  Was  not  this  his  son  ? 

"  I  will  be  more  than  a  squaw,"  Persis  said,  as  she 
settled  herself  to  her  work.  What  Koss  would  come 
to  be,  she  had  never  a  doubt.  Come  to  be  ?  He 
already  was ;  it  was  she  who  was  not.  As  to  his 
future,  one  might  as  well  ask  of  the  sun  in  the  morn 
ing,  "Do  you  propose  to  rise  higher?"  No;  just 
now  it  was  in  herself  she  was  most  interested, — most 
interested,  young  as  she  was,  for  his  sake.  We  know 
how  blind  must  be  the  aspirations  of  a  girl  like 
Persis;  yet  all  things  were  adjusting  themselves  in 
her  toward  one  question  in  which  her  life  was  to  be 
swallowed  up,  "  He  being  what  he  is,  and  growing  to 
what  he  will  be,  how  can  I  make  myself  into  some 
thing  worthy  of  him  ? "  She  had  always  been  ambi 
tious  ;  henceforth  love  added  to  ambition  its  deeper 
and  more  enduring  flames. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  but  Eoss  did  rot  care 
to  go  to  church.  His  mother  said  nothing,  and  went 
her  way  to  the  meeting-house.  It  was  the  only  day 
on  which  she  took  any  pains  with  her  toilet,  altogether 


148  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

too  negligent  of  it  at  other  times.  Eoss  had  become 
reluctantly  accustomed  to  her  wrapper  loosely  girded 
about  her  waist,  to  her  black  hair  in  disorder  about 
her  cheeks,  and  whom  did  she  care  to  please  except  her 
son  ?  Little  did  she  know  how  much,  and  more  of 
late  than  ever,  her  negligence  was  affecting,  almost 
terrifying,  him.  But  this  was  Sunday,  and  it  was  like 
civilization  emerging  from  savagery  when  she  came 
out  of  her  room  arrayed  for  church.  With  her  black 
silk  and  lace  neckerchief,  her  beautiful  teeth,  her 
hair  cared  for  and  a  becoming  covering  for  her  head, 
her  fine  eyes  and  elastic  carriage,  she  was  a  striking 
woman  to  look  at,  and  Eoss  took  more  pride  in  her 
then  than  it  had  ever  occurred  to  him  to  express. 

Certainly  Governor  Beauchamp  thought  so  as  he 
met  her  that  day  on  her  way  home  from  church. 

"  My  dear  lady ! "  he  exclaimed,  and  removed  his 
enormous  hat, "  I  had  not  flattered  myself  that  I  would 
have  so  great  a  gratification  !  Pardon  me  if  I  detain 
you.  You  are  looking  remarkably  well ! " 

Not  Turenne  or  Marlborough  could  have  presented 
a  more  chivalrous  aspect  than  the  magnificently 
formed  cavalier,  cane  in  hand,  as  he  stood  bareheaded 
in  the  sun,  the  wind  playing  with  his  hair  and  beard ; 
not  Leicester  himself,  nor  Walter  Ealeigh,  could  have 
been  more  courtly  had  it  been  Elizabeth.  Mrs.  Ur- 
woldt  knew  everything  in  regard  to  the  Governor,  yet 
she  smiled  and  blushed  as  he  continued  to  converse 
with  her  in  the  most  deferential  and  respectful  man 
ner.  The  manner  of  the  man  was  out  of  place,  but 
not  more  so  than  was  the  man  himself.  His  sin- 


ONE  OF  THE   CERTAINTIES.  149 

cerity  made  even  his  extravagance  of  courtesy  natural, 
and  he  was  so  grave  too.  He  complimented  her 
upon  her  son.  Never  had  he  known  a  more  intelli 
gent  and  promising  young  gentleman.  She  would  be 
proud  of  him  yet. 

"  He  is  devoted  to  you,  lady.  Extraordinary  as  he 
appears  to  be  in  point  of  talent  and  attainment,  you 
can  trust  him,  lady.  Do  I  not  know  men  ?  Yes,  you 
can  rest  in  him  your  hopes,  he  will  not  deceive  or 
disappoint  you.  And  how  handsome  Mr.  Eoss  is ! 
But  with  such  a  mother,"  with  a  respectful  inclina 
tion  and  a  wave  of  his  hand,  "  it  were  impossible  he 
should  be  otherwise  !  " 

Kabelais  tells  a  story  of  the  wandering  of  his  heroes 
around  the  world  in  search  of  that  which,  upon  the 
whole,  it  is  best  for  a  man  to  do.  After  innumerable 
defeats  at  insufficient  oracles,  they  are  brought,  at  last, 
and  as  at  the  end  of  the  world,  to  the  sacred  shrine 
from  which,  as  all  agree,  the  highest  wisdom  taber 
nacling  in  clay  shall  announce  that  which  alone  it  is 
best  for  mortal  to  do  if  he  would  be  happy.  To  the 
astonishment  of  the  seekers,  the  supreme  oracle  proves 
to  be  a  Bottle,  and  from  its  neck  gurgles  the  sum  of 
wisdom  in  the  one  word,  "Drink!"  To  that  point 
had  the  retired  statesman  arrived.  To  do  him  jus 
tice,  he  held,  and  sincerely,  to  his  faith  in  woman ; 
neither  the  bottle  nor  Ocklawahaw  would  have  known 
him  had  his  wife  lived.  He  had  not  met  Mrs.  Ur- 
woldt  for  a  long  time  ;  he  seemed  unwilling,  unable 
almost,  to  part  from  her. 

"  I  congratulate  you,"  he  said  once  more,  and  with 


150  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

all  respect,  "upon  your  appearance  this  delightful 
day." 

Poor  lady !  She  was  but  a  woman.  By  reason  of 
the  lingering  in  her  veins  of  ages  of  female  subjec 
tion,  she  was,  in  some  things,  but  a  weak  woman.  So 
long  was  it  since  she  had  heard  a  compliment  that 
she  could  not  but  be  pleased  with  it.  And  this  was 
the  Governor  who  spoke!  He  might  be  a  drunk 
ard,  but  he  was  a  gentleman.  That  he  was  a  great 
man  everybody  knew.  Her  eyes  sparkled;  her  color 
came. 

"And  if,"  the  Governor  added,  —  "and  if  (which 
may  Heaven  forbid  !)  my  friend,  General  Urwoldt,"  and 
he  laughed  as  he  said  it,  "  should  be  taken  from  us, 
you,  madam,  would  have  small  difficulty  in  marrying 
again."  But  the  gravity  with  which  it  was  said  did 
away  with  the  coarseness  of  the  compliment,  and  the 
courtly  speaker,  lifting  his  hat  for  a  final  wave  before 
he  replaced  it  upon  his  head,  walked  away  greatly 
refreshed. 

Not  so  much  so,  alas  !  but  that  he  resorted  to  other 
sources  the  same  afternoon.  To  Rachel  nothing  in 
nature  had  become  more  a  matter  of  course,  and  she 
sat  by  his  side,  as  he  lay  stretched  out  upon  a  pallet 
on  the  floor  of  the  back  porch,  dressed  in  her  Sunday 
clothing,  matronly  to  look  at,  her  hands  lying  power 
less  in  her  lap,  and  wondering  if  it  would  not  be  well 
to  get  in  the  winter's  pork  as  soon  as  it  should  be 
cold  enough. 

Governor  Beauchamp  had  spoken  lightly  to  Mrs. 
Urwoldt,  but  King  Saul  also  is  at  times  numbered 


ONE   OF  THE  CERTAINTIES.  151 

among  the  prophets.  Eoss  had  passed  what  was  to 
him  the  most  pleasant  of  mornings  out  upon  the 
prairie.  He  had  lain  upon  the  fragrant  grass  en 
joying  the  luxury  of  existence.  Maggie,  his  mare, 
had  spied  him,  and,  after  smelling  out  with  her  white 
nose  about  his  cheeks  that  he  had  no  use  for  her  just 
then,  had  gone  to  grazing  again  near  by.  There  was 
a  pleasure  to  her  master  in  her  enjoyment  of  the  grass, 
and  of  the  ocean-like  abundance  of  it  to  the  far 
thest  horizon.  He  had  not  disdained  to  watch  a  cloud 
of  insects  hovering  in  the  air,  objectless  in  their  cir 
cling  flight,  and  purely  for  the  pleasure  of  being  in  the 
air  together.  The  wind  rose  and  fell  like  the  regular 
breathing  of  the  peaceful  scene.  A  cloud  floated  far 
overhead,  a  flock  of  crows  flew  cawing  through  the  sky. 
He  cared  nothing  for  the  past,  for  the  future,  for  any 
body  —  except  Persis  ?  Why  should  he  ? 

But  the  sun  began  to  beat  too  hotly  upon  him. 
He  got  upon  his  feet  and  loitered  toward  the  cover 
of  the  woods. 

As  he  did  so  he  heard  the  sound  of  wheels,  and  saw 
that  it  was  his  father  driving  rapidly  by  in  his  buggy 
along  the  road.  To  his  surprise  General  Urwoldt 
hailed  him,  reined  in  his  horse,  —  a  spirited  bay,  the 
best  he  owned,  —  called  him  to  his  side,  insisted  upon 
his  getting  in,  and  drove  furiously  on.  A  man  had 
stopped  at  the  store  that  morning,  journeying  by  on 
foot.  After  he  was  gone,  General  Urwoldt  missed  a 
Mexican  blanket  which  had  been  lying  upon  the 
counter,  and  wras  in  pursuit  of  the  thief.  "  I  think  I 
know  where  to  catch  him,  and  I  wanted  some  one  to 


152  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

hold  ray  horse,"  he  said,  "when  I  do."  Boss  had 
never  loved  his  father.  How  had  it  heen  possible 
for  him  to  do  so  ?  This  portly,  purple-faced,  boister 
ous  man  had  never  shown  any  special  interest  in 
him.  He  had  lived  at  his  store  and  among  his  squaws. 
His  business  matters,  his  horses,  his  quarrels  with 
Indians,  half-breeds,  rough  settlers  from  among  the 
whites,  had  taken  up  his  time.  To  him  the  studies 
of  his  son  had  always  been  the  nonsense  of  a  foolish 
mother  and  an  idle  boy.  Secretly  he  was  prouder  of 
his  son,  thought  more  about  him,  than  he  had  ever 
expressed;  but  Ross  did  not  know  it.  Like  his 
mother  he  had  grown  accustomed  to  doing  without 
this  bloated  man  who  outswore,  outdrank,  outstormed, 
any  man  in  three  hundred  miles  around. 

As  the  two  rode  together,  Ross  could  not  but  smell 
the  effluvia  of  the  perspiring  drunkard,  who  never 
washed  his  body  these  days.  His  wrath  against  the 
thief  caused  him  to  steam  visibly  as  he  cursed  and 
swore,  and  told  what  he  would  do  when  he  caught  the 
offender.  "For  I  gave  the  old  scoundrel  a  plug  of 
tobacco  to  be  rid  of  him,"  he  said  with  many  oaths. 
"  Let  me  catch  him,  that  is  all ! " 

In  the  course  of  a  few  miles  the  man  grew  more 
malignant  as  he  grew  outwardly  cooler.  At  last, 
drawing  near  a  fringe  of  timber  which  ran  across  the 
road,  he  checked  his  horse  to  a  walk,  grasping  the 
heavy  whip  more  firmly,  peering  out  from  side  to 
side  as  the  road  descended  to  a  stream.  Sure  enough, 
there  was  a  white-headed  foot  traveller  seated  by  the 
brink  of  the  water,  rolling  up  his  trousers  to  wade 


ONE   OF  THE   CERTAINTIES.  153 

ross,  the  bright- colored  Mexican  blanket  lying  upon 
the  ground  beside  him. 

To  Ross  it  seemed  as  if  it  were  all  over  in  a  mo 
ment.  His  father  placed  the  reins  in  his  grasp, 
jumped  out,  whip  in  hand,  with  an  oath,  ran  upon 
the  man,  knocked  him  down  as  he  rose  to  his  feet, 
and  began  beating  him  with  savage  fury,  cursing  him 
as  he  did  so.  The  son  drove  nearer,  got  out,  and, 
holding  the  bit  of  the  struggling  animal  with  one 
hand,  he  laid  the  other  upon  his  father's  shoulder. 

"  You  will  kill  him ! "  he  said. 

Even  as  he  did  so,  the  whip  fell  from  the  hand  of 
the  infuriated  man ;  he  reeled  to  one  side  and  fell 
heavily  to  the  earth.  Eor  an  instant  Eoss  was  sure 
that  the  thief,  who  had  now  struggled  to  his  knees, 
had  stabbed  his  father.  But  no;  the  wretch,  his 
face  streaming  with  blood  from  the  blows,  had  not 
even  a  stick  in  the  hands  with  which  he  had 
tried  to  ward  off  the  whip.  There  was  a  moment  of 
horror  while  Eoss  stooped  over  his  father.  The 
purpled  face  was  turned  upward,  the  eyes  were  start 
ing  from  the  sockets.  As  the  son  let  go  the  head  of 
the  horse,  the  thief,  rising  staggeringly  to  his  feet, 
wiped  the  blood  from  his  eyes,  took  in  the  state  of 
things,  then  dashed  across  the  stream,  leaving  his 
hat  and  stolen  blanket  behind  him.  As  he  climbed 
painfully  up  the  ascent  on  the  other  side  of  the  water 
he  turned  his  bloody  face  for  a  last  look,  and  cursed 
his  pursuer  as  only  men  of  his  kind  can  curse.  Then 
he  paused  a  moment,  took  another  good  look  at  the 
prostrate  man ;  a  grin  of  joy  settled  upon  his  counte- 


154  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

nance.  "  Damn  you,  did  I  say  ?  You  are,  damned, 
you  old  rascal ! "  he  chuckled,  and  then  hastened  on 
lest  the  son  should  send  a  bullet  after  him. 

It  is  the  peculiarity  of  men  like  Eoss  Urwoldt  to 
become  cold  and  silent  where  other  men  grow  flurried. 
Getting  up  from  beside  his  father,  he  walked  toward 
the  horse,  which  was  backing  away  from  the  fallen 
owner,  its  ears  pricked  up,  snorting  with  distended 
nostrils.  In  vain  he  spoke  to  it.  Almost  upsetting 
the  vehicle  as  it  whirled  around,  it  flew  up  the  decliv 
ity,  and  when  Koss  reached  the  summit  it  was  running 
away  toward  the  village,  the  vehicle  bounding  into 
the  air  at  every  rut  and  stone. 

There  was  nothing  else  to  be  done  but  to  wait  until 
help  should  come.  He  returned  to  his  father,  undid 
his  vest,  loosened  his  necktie,  supported  his  head  on  his 
knee,  while  he  bathed  the  death-struck  face  from  the 
water  which  murmured  by  as  peacefully  as  before. 

It  was  but  too  evident  that  General  Urwoldt  had, 
in  his  wrath,  broken  some  blood-vessel,  for  the  blood 
was  gushing  from  his  mouth  as  he  lay. 

For  two  hours  his  son  sat  beside  him  powerless  to 
do  anything  but  wait.  He  had  often  shot  a  buck 
•when  it  was  dashing  along  in  the  beauty  of  its  speed. 
He  had  seen  the  antlered  thing  spring,  at  his  shot, 
as  if  in  desperate  effort  to  overleap  the  sudden  leaden 
obstacle  in  its  way,  high  into  the  air,  to  fall  to  the 
earth  in  a  confused  and  sprawling  heap,  its  grace 
gone  from  it  with  its  life.  In  shooting  a  bull  buffalo 
the  animal,  he  remembered,  always  stumbled  forward, 
struck  its  nose  against  the  ground,  and  rolled  over. 


ONE  OF  THE    CERTAINTIES.  155 

But  this  was  the  first  time  Eoss  had  witnessed 
the  death  of  one  of  his  own  kind,  and  there  was  to 
him  a  something  more  ignoble  as  it  was  more  terrible 
than  in  the  case  of  deer  or  buffalo.  The  years  of 
debauchery,  insolent  self-assertion,  cruel  bargaining, 
raging  passion,  unreasoning  vehemence  in  regard  to 
miserable  trifles,  —  there  had  been  nothing  of  that  in 
the  beasts  !  A  moment  ago  General  Urwoldt  was  the 
rich  headman  of  the  nation,  possessed  of  what  was 
almost  genius  too,  as  painter  and  writer,  in  every 
way  gifted  beyond  the  average  of  men ;  and  there 
he  lay  in  a  death  more  disgraceful  than  the  dead- 
drunkenness  of  Governor  Beauchamp, —  a  drunken 
ness  out  of  the  mire  and  shame  of  which  this  man 
would  get  up  again  no  more.  With  the  man  as  with 
buck  and  buffalo,  this  was  the  end  of  things  forever ! 
Eoss  looked  steadfastly  at  his  dead  father,  shuddered, 
and  in  turning  away  from  him  turned  that  much  the 
more  away  from  all  men. 

At  last  a  number  of  people  drove  up  from  Ocklawa- 
haw,  Mitchabuna  and  Parson  Williams  with  them; 
for  the  horse,  with  fragments  of  the  buggy  at  its 
heels,  had  arrived  at  its  stable  coated  with  foam 
and  dust,  telling  thus  the  tale  of  some  disaster.  The 
wife  wept  silently  as  they  drove  the  wagon  home,  the 
dead  man  lying  upon  the  Mexican  blanket  in  the 
bottom.  But  Eoss  sat  cold  and  still.  Like  the  rocks 
among  the  canons,  which  hold  the  track  of  bird  and 
beast  made  in  them  ages  before,  his  was  a  nature 
that,  hardening  every  day,  was  to  retain  forever  the 
impressions  then  made. 


156  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY, 

"  Eeward,  sooner  or  later.  —  fitting  reward,  exact  as 
to  date,  level  as  to  measure,  to  the  worst  man  as  to  the 
best,  to  General  Urwoldt  as  to  Parson  Williams,  — 
this  also  is,"  I  said  to  myself  when  I  heard  of  it, 
"one  among  the  solid  certainties  we  can  count  confi 
dently  upon." 


UPTURNING.  157 


CHAPTER  XIII 

UPTURNING. 

'THHE  death  of  General  Urwoldt  changed  every- 
-*-  thing  at  Ocklawahaw.  There  was  not  in 
Europe  a  monarch  more  absolute  than,  in  the  limits 
of  the  Eeservation,  its  headman  had  been  and  for 
so  long,  and  his  death  was  as  that  of  a  king  in  its 
effects.  It  was  the  passing  away  of  an  era,  since,  in 
this  case  also,  the  advance  of  the  times  made  it  im 
possible  that  his  son  and  successor  should  be  a  sov 
ereign  of  the  same  sort.  By  universal  consent,  the 
death  of  General  Urwoldt  was  regarded  as  the  greatest 
good  luck  which  for  many  years  had  befallen  Ock 
lawahaw  and  its  dependencies,  since,  as  all  agreed, 
Ross  was  an  unspeakable  improvement  upon  his 
father. 

Governor  Beauchamp  was,  of  all  the  mourners  on 
the  morning  of  the  funeral,  the  most  conspicuous, 
not  to  say  the  most  affected.  Clad  in  his  best  broad 
cloth,  draped  still  more  deeply  in  the  aspect  of  re 
spectful  grief,  he  occupied  a  front  seat  during  the 
services  at  church,  added  his  voice  to  the  singing  of 
the  funeral  hymns,  was  among  the  last  who  lingered 
at  the  grave.  After  dinner  he  escaped  from  his 


158  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

daughter  by  saying  that  he  intended  to  visit  Father 
Williams. 

He  found  the  old  man  returned  to  his  week-day 
clothes,  and  engaged  outside  his  cabin  in  mending  a 
tub. 

"  Yes,  reverend  sir,"  he  remarked  to  the  pastor  at 
the  end  of  manifold  moraliziugs  upon  the  uncertainty 
of  life,  "as  I  have  often  observed  to  you  before,  I 
honor  your  sacred  calling.  No  one  can  regret  more 
than  I  do  that  I  attend  church  so  rarely.  I  hear 
your  sermons,  as  also  those  of  your  coadjutor,  Mr. 
Amasa  Clarke,  so  highly  spoken  of  that  I  the  more  re 
gret  it.  But  I  am  glad,  even  while  absent,  that  the  gos 
pel  is  being  proclaimed.  May  God  bless  your  labors  ! " 

There  was  more  of  the  same  talk,  but  the  aged 
missionary  did  not  cease  his  work  to  listen  to  it  as 
attentively  as  he  might.  The  distinguished  reprobate 
was  too  large  a  problem  for  the  preacher.  If  he  was 
not  edified,  the  Governor  was,  and  he  walked  away 
in  the  end  as  if  he  had  been  listening  to  a  sermon. 
It  did  not  prevent  him  from  becoming,  if  possible, 
and  by  sunset  of  the  same  day,  more  deeply  intoxi 
cated  than  ever. 

From  that  time  Eoss  had  more  than  enough  to  do. 
It  took  some  months  of  hard  work  over  the  accounts 
and  among  the  assets  of  General  Urwoldt,  before  he 
found  out  how  matters  stood.  When  he  did  he  was 
astonished  to  see  how  much  wealthier  his  father  had 
been  than  he  had  thought.  For  the  late  headman 
loved  money  so  much  better  than  liquor,  that  he 
never  allowed  the  drinking  of  the  one  to  interfere 


UPTURNING.  159 

with  the  making  of  the  other.  But  it  was  a  property 
almost  as  hard  to  reckon  up  and  manage  as  were  the 
multitudinous  "brands"  of  cattle  and  the  herds  of 
horses  in  which  it  partly  consisted,  and  which  were 
at  large  over  the  prairies  for  two  hundred  miles 
around;  the  Indians  and  half-breeds  who  attended 
iipon,  and  at  regular  seasons  corralled  and  branded  the 
stock,  being  the  hardest  to  control  of  all. 

Hiring  clerks  to  take  care  of  the  store,  and  who 
had  themselves  to  be  closely  watched,  the  new  owner 
almost  lived  in  the  saddle,  while  he  learned  not 
merely  the  condition  of  his  live-stock,  but  the  quality 
of  his  large,  carefully  selected,  and  widely  separated 
tracts  of  land,  upland,  river  bottom,  cedar  brake, 
Pecan  forest,  mineral.  Whenever,  in  exploring  the 
live-oaks,  he  heard  the  rush  of  animals  through  the 
dense  undergrowth,  it  gratified  him,  even  in  the  act 
of  bringing  his  rifle  into  readiness,  to  see  that  instead 
of  deer  it  was  a  drove  of  hogs,  the  ear  slits  of  which 
showed  that  they,  with  every  pig  following  them 
fast,  were  his  own.  So,  when  halting  upon  a  knoll 
of  the  prairie,  he  unslung  his  glass  and  swept  the 
horizon  carefully  around,  deer,  buffalo,  antelope,  ver 
durous  grass  waving  in  the  wind,  and  golden  clouds 
dotting  the  distance,  were  impertinences  now,  since 
it  was  first  for  stock  he  was  seeking,  and  then  for 
the  big  U  on  the  flank  of  cow  or  horse,  which 
proved  the  stock  to  be  his  own.  So  of  his  land. 

"  A  man  can  no  more  grow  and  develop  than  can  a 
tree,  unless,"  he  said  to  me  one  day,  "  he  is  rooted  in 
soil  of  his  own." 


160  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

General  Urwoldt  had  held  his  possessions  so  ex 
clusively  in  his  own  panther-like  claws  that  the  mere 
ownership  was  for  a  long  time  a  new  sensation  to  his 
son,  who,  really,  had  not  thought  much  about  it 
before.  Often,  in  riding  across  the  prairie,  he  would 
rein  Maggie  in  upon  the  top  of  some  eminence,  and, 
after  examining  the  expanse  for  stock,  would  try  to 
realize  that  the  earth  itself,  and  as  far  as  he  could 
see  in  every  direction,  was  his  own.  As  he  did  so  he 
sat  more  erect  in  his  saddle,  drew  deeper  breaths  of 
the  air  and  sunshine  which  there  at  least  were  his 
own  likewise.  It  was  as  if  he  felt  the  sap  ascending 
from  the  soil  along  every  vein,  as  if  every  pore  of 
his  body  drew  in  a  stronger  life. 

It  was  natural  that  this  Antaeus,  too,  should 
thrive  by  touching  the  earth,  as  lie  did ;  and  he 
throve  indeed.  I  do  not  know  if  he  ate  on  a 
larger  scale,  but  he  slept  more  profoundly,  grew 
deeper  of  chest,  broader  across  the  shoulders,  wore 
the  graver  aspect,  as  of  a  many-acred  earl,  as  the 
months  wore  by,  especially  as  there  were  posses 
sions  of  his  which  were  not  so  passive  in  his  hand  as 
lands.  There  were  all  sorts  of  men  in  his  employ, 
not  one  of  whom  did  not  wear  revolver  and  butcher- 
knife  in  his  hip  pocket  handy  to  his  grasp,  and  whom 
he  had  not  to  pay  only,  but  to  guide,  compel,  control, 
sober  or  drunk,  content  or  discontented,  pleased  or 
growling  vengeance  through  their  beards ;  and  the 
condition  of  remaining  master  of  these  was,  that  Eoss 
should,  under  all  circumstances,  remain  master  of 
himself.  It  was  excellent  discipline. 


UPTURNING.  161 

"  It  was  easy  to  confront  such  men,"  Ross  explained 
to  me  afterward,  "  easy  to  knock  them  down  if  neces 
sary,  easy  to  anticipate  them  in  shooting.  The  diffi 
culty  lay  in  so  speaking,  so  acting,  as  to  govern  them 
without  an  oath,  a  blow,  or  a  bullet.  I  had  to  have 
long  patience  and  practice,  —  severe  drill,  in  a  word, 
with  and  over  myself,  before  I  came  to  it." 

Many  months  were  gone  before  Eoss  was  aware. 
When  one  event  befalls  a  dozen  follow.  While  the 
new  master  was  accustoming  himself  to  the  scep 
tre  and  throne,  Governor  Beauchamp  was  suddenly 
smitten,  swept  out  of  Ocklawahaw,  and  far  along,  by 
another  of  those  gusts  which  were  as  much  a  matter 
of  course  to  him  as  breezes,  or,  at  best,  trade-winds, 
are  to  barks  of  lesser  tonnage. 

"As  I  told  you,"  Eoss  wrote  me,  "his  entire  life 
has  been  but  a  series  of  sudden  changes.  Either  he 
is  lying  flat  on  his  back  in  contented  obscurity,  or  he 
is  the  Julius  Caesar  of  some  great  triumph;  with 
him — and  he  is  as  quiescent  through  everything  as 
a  baby  —  any  middle  condition  of  things  seems  to  be 
impossible.  I  used  to  see  him  loafing  about  Ock 
lawahaw,  talking  to  whatever  group  happened  to 
form  around  him,  accepting  with  affability  whatever 
homage  was  rendered  to  him  in  hand-shakings,  offered 
tobacco,  proffered  drinks.  I  used  to  see  him  here  and 
there  about  the  place  doing  this  day  after  day,  week 
after  week,  month  after  month,  until  it  was  hard  to 
imagine  he  had  ever  done  anything  else  all  his  life. 
There  was  not  a  child  in  Ocklawahaw  that  was  not 
as  familiar  with  his  colossal  size,  dilapidated  yellow 

11 


162  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

hat,  broad  brows,  copious  hair  and  beard,  courtly 
manner,  drawling  speech,  everlasting  whittling,  as  it 
was  with  the  sycamore  at  the  end  of  the  town.  Ten, 
fifty,  a  hundred  times,  it  seems  to  me,  have  I  seen 
him  in  his  garrulous,  then  in  his  solemn  and  digni 
fied,  intoxication. 

"  One  September  day,  more  than  a  year  after  my 
father's  death,  he  had  been  struck  by  drink  away 
from  the  house,  and  lay,  as  of  old,  upon  the  grass 
under  the  sycamore.  I  had  not  noticed  that  Persis 
and  llachel  were  with  him,  or  I  would  not  have  gone 
nearer.  As  I  went  up  to  see  if  I  could  do  anything 
for  him,  I  saw  them  seated  on  the  stone  with  their 
books  and  their  sewing,  and  pretended  not  to  notice 
the  Governor  lying  prostrate  on  the  earth,  a  little 
apart,  the  broad-brimmed  hat  over  his  face. 

"  The  girls  were  young  ladies  almost  by  this  time. 
They  had  grown  larger,  but  were  the  same :  that  is, 
llachel  was  as  mute  and  motherly  as  ever;  Persis 
Paige,  quiet  enough,  but,  if  possible,  more  energetic 
about  her  housework  and  her  studies  than  before. 
They  were  talking  together  in  a  low  tone  when  I 
came  up ;  at  least,  Persis  was  speaking  in  her  eager 
way,  quiet  as  she  was,  telling  what  she  had  read,  what 
she  wanted  to  read.  But  there  was  silence  when  I 
sat  down  ;  they  seemed  almost  shy  of  me.  Although 
I  did  try  to  be  a  brother  to  them." 

"  Did  you  ? "  I  sympathized  with  him  smilingly, 
as  I  read  his  letter. 

"Beside  my  mother,  they  are  all  the  society  I 
have,"  Pioss  wrote.  "  Busy  as  I  am,  I  need  some 


UPTURNING,  163 

companionship.  But  I  cannot  understand  them. 
That  is,  I  can  understand  Eachel.  She  has  that  kind 
of  broad,  clear,  open,  old-fashioned  face  which  I  sup 
pose  Mary  and  Martha  Washington  had.  When  I 
talk  with  her  it  is  like  standing  outside  of  an  open 
window  in  summer  time ;  almost  as  if  you  were  to 
lean  your  arm  upon  the  window-sill  and  look  in  and 
see  everything  in  the  room.  It  is  different  with 
Persis,  very  different !  But  it  is  of  the  Governor 
I  was  speaking.  As  I  sat  trying  to  get  Persis  to  say 
something,  the  sleeping  man  moved  his  arm,  his  hat 
fell  from  off  his  face.  His  hair  had  grown  whiter  of 
late,  and  it  was  tangled,  as  he  lay,  with  bits  of  moss 
and  dead  leaves.  The  face  was  exposed  to  the  glare 
of  the  sun,  and  he  made,  with  his  immense  and 
utterly  relaxed  length,  the  great  palms  lying  open 
upon  either  side  of  him,  a  Silenus  in  the  last  stages 
of  degradation,  and  many  sizes  larger  than  life. 
Rather,  he  was  like  a  whale  thrown  high  up  upon 
the  beach.  I  could  almost  detect  in  the  air  the  efflu 
via  of  his  speedy  dissolution ;  and  then  I  glanced  at 
Eachel  sitting  there  so  young,  yet  so  sedate. 

" '  You  old  sinner ! '  I  said,  almost  aloud ;  '  it  is 
time  you  were  dead  and  buried  ! '  And  I  strolled  away 
to  send  somebody  who  could  carry  him  home. 

"  And  yet,"  Ross  added,  "  in  three  days  after  that 
the  Governor  was  gone  !  There  was  a  political  revo 
lution  in  his  State,  as  I  learned  soon  after.  His  own 
party  had  long  ago  cast  him  off  with  horror  to  save 
their  reputation  as  the  party  of  law  and  respectability. 
In  a  dearth  of  leaders  of  their  own,  the  opposite 


164  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

party  saw  a  golden  chance  lying  neglected  in  the 
former  Executive.  A  delegation  came  in  haste  to 
Ocklawahaw.  Governor  Beauchamp  received  them 
on  his  front  porch,  as  an  exiled  monarch  might  have 
received  an  embassy  from  his  repentant  subjects. 
He  was,  he  said,  wholly  satisfied  where  he  was,  had 
no  desire  whatever  to  return  to  public  life.  For  some 
time,  however,  he  had  known  and  bewailed  the  mad 
ness  of  the  party  with  which  he  had  heretofore  acted. 
As  a  wholly  impartial  spectator,  he  was  free  to  say 
that  those  who  sought  him  represented  the  only  hope 
of  the  State  in  its  present  serious  emergency.  He 
hoped  they  would  carry  the  next  elections,  hoped  so 
as  a  mere  outsider.  I  need  not  add  that  he  yielded 
at  last  to  return  with  them." 

"  For  the  first  time  I  am  reading  the  papers  with 
interest,"  Eoss  wrote  next.  "They  are  full  of  the  Gov 
ernor,  abusing  or  praising  him.  He  is  making  stump 
speeches  over  the  State.  There  are  columns  upon 
columns  detailing  the  processions  which  go  forth  to 
meet  him,  the  barbecues  with  thousands  in  attend 
ance.  His  speeches  are  given  at  length,  filled  from 
end  to  end  with  parentheses  of  laughter,  applause, 
vociferous  cheering.  It  is  another  Napoleon  returned 
from  Elba." 

That  was  all  Eoss  could  then  write.  In  a  little 
while,  as  I  saw  in  the  papers  for  myself,  Governor 
Beauchamp  had  carried  the  State  for  his  new  friends 
by  overwhelming  majorities.  He  was  elected  Gov 
ernor  by  a  larger  vote  than  ever,  and  the  papers  rang 
with  eulogies  upon  his  eloquence,  his  statesmanship, 


UPTURNING.  165 

his  inflexible  adherence  to  principle ;  upon  the  self- 
sacrificing  sublimity  of  his  return  from  dignified  and 
opulent  retirement  to  overthrow  the  base,  ignorant, 
and  corrupt  minions  who  had  fed  themselves  fat  upon 
the  vitals  of  the  people  ! 

"  I  had  already  learned  many  things  from  the  Gov 
ernor,"  Eoss  wrote  me  soon  after,  "  from  what  he  was 
as  much  as  from  what  he  said.  Now  I  learn  another 
lesson,  and  that  is,  that  everything  lies  at  last  in  op 
portunity,  in  mere  circumstance." 

"  Circumstance  ?  Yes,"  I  wrote,  reminding  him  of 
it  again.  "  Circumstance  once  leaped  upon  you  from 
a  pecan-tree  in  the  shape,  I  remember  your  telling 
me,  of  a  wild-cat.  Unless  I  mistake,  you  had  quite  a 
time  of  it  that  day  with  circumstance.  Instead  of 
yielding  to  circumstance  you  fought  with  and  killed 
and  afterward  nailed  up  the  striped  skin  of  circum 
stance  upon  your  stable  door.  Sometimes  it  comes 
in  the  horns  and  hoofs  of  the  devil,  and  sometimes  in 
the  person  of  an  angel.  Persis  is  a  circumstance,  so 
is  Rachel.  Don't  let  us  argue  about  it,  man ;  every 
thing  lies  in  resisting  or  in  yielding  to  what  befalls 
us,  and  you  know  it." 

"  Oh,  well,"  Ross  replied,  "  have  your  way !  But  this, 
too,  I  gathered  from  the  case  of  the  Governor :  first, 
how  low  a  man  may  fall,  —  how  very  low,  and  from 
what  heights  ;  second,  that  although  a  man  falls  as 
from  the  stars,  and  into  the  gutter,  the  fall  need  not 
slay  him.  I  had  not  imagined  that  there  was  such 
toughness  in  humanity,  such  elasticity,  so  much 
bounce ;  India-rubber  is  nothing  to  it ! " 


166  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  I  wrote  back,  "  some  day  you 
will  learn  that  a  man  is  so  exceedingly  tough  as  to 
endure  when  all  nature  beside,  having  served  him, 
shall  perish,  every  forest  with  its  dead  leaves,  every 
ocean  more  utterly  than  the  spray  it  casts  into  the 
air.  Out  of  all  we  behold,  man  and  his  Maker  are 
the  only  things  which  survive ;  and  as  to  the  power 
in  a  man  of  rebound,  —  yes,  and  from  a  depth  deeper 
than  even  the  Governor  reached,  and  not  only  to  the 
stars  but  beyond  them  —  But  we  won't  argue  about 
it ;  tell  me  in  your  next  what  Eachel  thinks  of 
affairs." 


FINALITIES.  167 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

FINALITIES. 

I_pOE  very  many  years  now  had  Parson  "Williams 
•*•  labored  in  the  Reservation.  From  his  earliest 
manhood,  by  day  and  by  night,  teaching,  preaching, 
visiting  from  house  to  house,  he  had  given  his  life  in 
every  faculty,  during  every  hour,  to  his  work.  It  was 
he  who  did  what  he  could  to  counteract  the  evil  in 
fluence  of  General  Urwoldt,  to  settle  the  quarrels 
continually  arising  among  the  people,  to  urge  them, 
and  by  the  example  too  of  his  own  unwearying  hands, 
to  industry.  He  it  was  who  acted  as  umpire  in  every 
case  of  dispute,  whether  it  had  reference  to  an  acre  of 
land  or  to  an  unbranded  colt  or  calf.  Wherever  was 
sickness  there  was  the  good  old  man  also,  to  heal 
if  possible,  to  prepare  the  dying  for  death,  to  bury 
the  dead,  to  console  the  survivors.  Against  a  thou 
sand  discouragements,  as  poor  as  the  poorest,  he  had 
done  his  utmost,  his  very  life  prolonged  by  the  steady 
intensity  of  his  purpose,  which  had  never  for  an  in 
stant  a  reference  to  himself. 

As  his  granddaughter  sat  sewing  beside  him  one 
afternoon,  she  was  saddened  to  see  how  very,  very  in 
firm  he  was.  His  old  Bible  lay  open  upon  his  knees 
as  he  sat,  the  spectacles  placed  so  as  to  mark  the 


168  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

verse  upon  which  he  had  been  meditating.  But  he 
was  thinking  of  Persis.  She  changed  color  as  she 
looked  up,  he  was  gazing  so  intently  upon  her.  "  I 
am  afraid  to  leave  you,"  he  said  to  her  almost 
sternly. 

"  Afraid,  grandpa ! " 

"  You  are  too  ambitious,  my  child ;  you  study  too 
hard.  Women  should  not  want  to  know  too  much, 
Persis ;  that  was  the  sin  of  Eve  which  ruined  the 
race." 

Persis  ceased  sewing  in  astonishment.  "  And  you 
yourself  have  always  urged  me,"  she  said,  "  to  study 
as  hard  as  I  could  in  order  to  teach  others." 

"  Yes,"  he  replied ;  "  but  that  was  when  you  were  a 
child.  What  I  desired  to  do  was  to  give  direction 
to  your  path.  I  ought  not  to  have  said  as  much  as  I 
did.  You  are  going  along  it  too  fast !  I  wish  you 
were  a  little  more  like  Rachel.  A  girl  should  not 
read  too  much.  It  is  as  if  a  weak  stomach  should 
take  too  much  food,  my  dear.  A  man  can  stand  it, 
but  God  has  made  women  differently.  You  should 
know  only  enough  to  love  wisely,  and  to  help  —  in  a 
woman's  way,  mind  !  —  those  you  love.  That  is  all. 
I  am  afraid  for  you,  Persis  ! " 

She  should  have  had  more  regard  to  the  words  of 
the  good  old  man,  since  they  were  almost  the  last  he 
spoke.  For,  one  day,  it  became  known  through  Ockla- 
wahaw  that  Parson  Williams  was  dead.  He  had  done 
all  the  good  which  had  been  done  in  the  Reservation, 
even  if  he  had  not  made  saints  of  the  savages. 

The  whole  Reservation  came  to  his  funeral,  —  the 


FINALITIES.  1G9 

women  with  outcries  of  sorrow;  the  worst  men  silent 
with  a  deeper  grief,  consternation  almost.  "  It  is  as 
if  we  were  burying  God,"  one  of  them  said.  Amasa 
Clarke  officiated  at  the  grave,  taking  thereafter,  so  far 
as  he  might,  the  place  of  the  dead  apostle.  "  But 
he  is  only  Pooga-Dooga,  Mush-and-Milk,"  was  the 
unanimous  remark. 

Long  as  Persis  had  looked  forward  to  it,  the  blow 
smote  her  heavily,  or  would  have  done  so  if  she  had 
not  been  so  busy  with  the  additional  care  and  work 
it  brought  her  that  she  did  not  find  time,  at  first,  even 
to  weep. 

And  then  the  old  cabin  in  which  the  two  had  lived 
so  long  had  held  itself  up  only,  it  was  evident,  until 
the  aged  missionary  was  done  with  it ;  for  it  almost 
tumbled  down  the  day  after  the  burying.  Mitcha- 
buna  begged  her  to  come  to  her  house ;  but  Ross  lived 
there,  and  she  would  not.  Moreover,  Rachel  took  the 
poor  girl  into  her  motherly  heart  and  home  from  the 
first.  Then  came  the  reaction.  For  weeks  Persis  lay 
ill  under  the  care  of  Seelye  and  Rachel,  who  became, 
as  in  a  moment,  the  oldest  as  she  always  had  been 
the  strongest.  For  a  while  Persis,  weeping  and  worn 
out,  clung  to  her  friend,  as  if  she  were  a  mere  babe. 

There  had  long  been  years  of  trouble  impending 
between  the  North  and  the  South ;  and  Ross  Urwoldt 
was  called  away,  the  day  after  the  funeral,  to  attend  a 
political  conference  in  regard  to  it  in  a  distant  city. 
Almost  alone  in  that  he  took  strong  ground  there 
against  secession,  he  exerted  himself  to  his  utmost  to 
prevent  it;  hardest  of  all,  he  had  to  keep  himself 


170  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

cool  under  pathetic  appeals,  vehement  accusations, 
from  the  overwhelming  majority  who  opposed  him. 
What  tried  him  most  was  that  the  power  had  already 
passed  into  the  hands  of  mere  passion ;  he  might  as 
well  have  endeavored  to  stem  a  thunder-gust;  and 
he  returned  homeward  before  the  conference  closed, 
more  alarmed  at  what  the  South  might  suffer  through 
its  own  folly  than  what  the  North  might  accomplish 
by  force. 

The  last  few  days  of  his  journey  back  were  upon 
horseback.  He  had  often  ridden  by  himself,  for  hun 
dreds  of  miles  scarcely  seeing  a  human  being,  and 
the  habit  had  come  to  him,  thus,  of  slow,  steady,  con 
tinuous  reflection,  for  the  conclusions  of  which  he 
must  rely  upon  himself  alone.  The  war  which  threat 
ened  brought  back  his  mind  to  that  which  had  al 
ready  exercised  it  so  long, —  Persis!  Now  that  the 
country  was  being  precipitated  into  a  strife  of  which 
no  man  could  see  the  end,  what  ought  he  to  do 
in  regard  to  her  ?  He  loved  her  with  all  his  heart. 
Perhaps  she  would  marry  him  ?  She  was  so  young 
he  regarded  it  as  almost  brutal  to  speak  to  her  about 
it,  even  yet.  What  ought  he  to  do  ? 

And  then  he  thought  of  his  mother.  He  knew 
only  too  well  the  way  in  which  women  were  regarded 
in  Ocklawahaw.  When  they  were  young  and  pretty, 
they  were  petted  very  much  as  if  they  were  kittens. 
Sometimes  a  young  wife,  if  very  pretty,  and  when 
first  married,  would  put  on  her  poor  little  airs,  would 
scold  and  wheedle,  would  venture  even  to  pout  at  and 
vex  her  husband.  Alas !  the  first  curse  from  his  lips, 


FINALITIES.  171 

the  first  blow  from  his  hand,  struck  her  back  into 
what  she  knew  all  along  was  her  place,  —  a  place 
hardly  higher  than  the  dogs,  by  no  means  as  exalted 
as  that  of  a  blooded  horse.  Having  the  father  he  did, 
it  was  impossible  but  that  Koss  should  be  at  least 
uncertain  in  regard  to  women,  doubtful  of  them,  even 
vigilantly  suspicious  of  them.  He  had  loved  his 
mother,  had  gloried  in  the  fact  that  she  was  an  edu 
cated  woman.  In  his  struggle  against  his  hereditary 
estimate  of  the  sex,  she  was  the  one  woman  upon 
whom  he  rested  his  faith.  Persis  he  loved,  but  in  his 
mother  he  had  trusted  from  his  birth.  But  now  — 

As  he  rode  through  deep  forests,  day  after  day,  in 
solitary  thought,  he  strove  against  any  doubts  in 
regard  to  her,  with  the  double  dismay  that  they 
involved  Persis  also.  He  reached  his  result  at  last. 
With  it  came  a  sudden  gladness.  He  put  spurs  to 
his  horse  and  rode  on  more  rapidly  till  he  reached 
Ocklawahaw. 

When,  the  day  of  his  arrival,  he  stood  upon  the 
porch  of  the  house  in  which  Persis  lived  with  Rachel, 
his  heart  bounded  as  he  saw  Persis  herself,  seated, 
book  in  hand,  in  the  corner  where  the  vines  grew 
thickest.  The  girl  held  her  book  from  force  of  habit. 
She  did  not  know  what  book  it  was.  Her  tears  were 
all  wept.  What  work  was  to  be  done  she  had  finished. 
Her  past  was  as  hazy  to  her  as  her  future.  She  was 
still  weak  from  illness.  The  one  thing  she  did  was 
to  go  on  thinking  of  Ross. 

When  she  looked  up  and  saw  him  standing  before 
her,  she  could  not  control  herself.  There  was  that  in 


172  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

his  eyes  which  would  have  frightened  her  had  it  not 
gladdened  her  so  much.  She  sprang  to  meet  him. 
Rachel  would  not  have  lost  herself  for  an  instant, 
whoever  and  however  much  she  might  love.  But 
Rachel  was  not  Persis,  and  it  was  a  Persis  so  weak 
from  long  suffering,  so  electric  with  intense  feeling 
long  suppressed  !  She  had  to  say  something.  In  the 
sheer  foolishness  of  her  joy,  "  0  Ross,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  it  will  distress  you  so  much  ! " 

"  What  is  it,  Persis  ? "  He  overmastered  her,  she 
was  so  happy,  so  weak ;  he  stood  there  so  strong,  loving 
her  —  she  could  see  that  —  so  much.  The  matter 
she  alluded  to  had  filled  her  talks  with  Rachel  for 
many  days.  Except  Ross,  she  had  thought  of  noth 
ing  else.  It  was  the  childishness  of  a  young,  a  very 
young  girl,  too  happy  to  know  what  she  said.  She 
took  for  granted  Ross  must  have  heard  her  news  be 
fore  this.  No  ;  Rachel  would  not  have  said  it.  There 
was  the  utter  surrender  in  it  of  a  too  impulsive  child 
to  the  man  she  loved  so  well,  the  man  who  was  there 
to  take  her  to  his  heart. 

More  than  frightened  now  at  her  folly  in  doing  so, 
She  told  him  all.  He  had  not  imagined  such  a  thing ! 
Not  even  Ross  himself  could  have  supposed  that  the 
event  would  have  struck  him  so  hard.  There  was  a 
revulsion  in  him  of  feeling.  He  almost  reeled  before 
it.  Persis  was  forgotten.  There  came  into  his  face 
a  change  from  which  she  recoiled  with  a  cry.  He 
stood  motionless  for  a  moment,  his  eyes  darkening  as 
they  fastened  themselves  upon  hers.  Then  he  turned, 
and,  without  a  word,  was  gone. 


FINALITIES.  173 

For  what  Persis  had  to  tell  him  was  that  his  mother 
was  married. to  Amasa  Clarke, — the  indolent  and 
apathetic  man  whom,  for  so  many  years,  Ross  had 
disliked  and  despised  beyond  all  men  !  She  had  not 
dared  to  tell  him  of  her  intention,  and  had  seized  the 
opportunity  of  his  absence  to  carry  it  out. 

What  took  place  between  mother  and  son  in  regard 
to  the  marriage,  who  can  say  ?  No  one  cared  to  speak 
to  Ross  of  it.  People  were  almost  afraid  to  enter  the 
house  of  the  mother  after  it  was  known  that  her  son 
had  broken  with  her.  At  their  coming  in,  her  eyes 
flashed  upon  them  like  those  of  some  wild  animal. 
She  had  her  fits,  too,  of  girlish  laughter,  of  violent 
weeping.  But  it  was  long  before  Ross  saw  Persis 
again.  He  had  made  an  idol  of  poor  Mitchabuna, 
and,  with  her,  his  faith  in  the  sex  was  gone. 

Then  came  on  the  war  between  the  North  and  the 
South.  Ross  went  to  another  political  conference, 
and  on  his  return  he  gave  himself  up,  colder  and 
sterner  than  ever,  to  raising  a  regiment  of  men  for 
the  war. 


174  BLESSED  SAINT  CEKTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

A  DECISION. 

TT  was  little  that  Ross,  or  any  one  else,  had  said  to 
•*-  Persis  or  Rachel  concerning  the  impending  war. 
When  he  should  go  into  the  army  it  might  be  different, 
but  so  far  his  chief  feeling  was  a  sense  of  resent 
ment  against  all  politicians,  —  a  sullen  anger  such  as 
a  drop  of  the  ocean  might  have  against  the  billow 
which  was  gathering  it  up  to  dash  it  upon  the  rocks. 
But  he  could  no  more  resist  it  than  he  could  the 
marriage  of  his  mother;  and  he  was  glad  when  he 
called  upon  the  girls  the  day  before  he  left  and  found 
them  not  at  home.  It  was  better  so. 

The  next  day,  as  he  rode  out  of  town,  he  dismounted 
at  their  door,  fastened  his  mare  Maggie  to  the  fence, 
and  came  in  merely  to  say  good-by.  Having  reached 
the  certainty  of  things,  he  had  lost  his  wearied  look. 
Perhaps  he  was  the  more  erect  by  reason  of  his  new 
uniform,  his  captaincy,  his  sword  and  pistols.  More 
over,  if  he  was  sterner  when  with  men,  he  had  now 
the  aspect,  rather,  of  gladness,  as  of  one  who  feels 
fresh  and  strong  for  a  great  journey  which  lies  before 
him.  Persis  was  by  herself  upon  the  porch  at  the 
moment,  for  her  friend  had  been  seized  with  a  quiet 
mania  for  knitting  innumerable  socks  for  the  soldiers, 


A   DECISION-.  175 

and  had  gone  to  the  store  to  buy  all  the  yarn  which 
was  to  be  had.  "While  Ross  waited  her  return,  he  and 
Persis  said  everything  to  each  other  but  that  which 
lay  nearest  their  hearts.  When  on  the  prairie,  rifle 
in  hand,  Ross  could  pick  out  of  a  herd  of  deer, 
grazing  in  the  distance,  the  one  deer  he  wanted,  could 
pick  it  out  because  it  was  so  much  the  best  of  all, 
and  yet  he  could  not  now  see  that  Persis  was  as  much 
superior  to  poor  Mitchabuna  as  is  gold  to  copper,  as 
is  Cordelia  to  Cleopatra.  But  his  mother  had  been, 
and  ever  since  he  could  remember,  the  chiefest  of 
women  to  him,  and  with  her  the  sex  had  perished. 
Persis  knew  it.  She  could  do  nothing  now ;  but  it 
deepened  into  a  religion  within  her,  —  the  purpose  to 
prove  to  him  some  day  what  she  was. 

"  By  the  by,"  he  said,  as  he  rose  at  last  to  leave, 
"my  mother  knows  how  much  you  wish  to  go  on 
with  your  education,  and  that  Ocklawahaw  is  no  place 
for  it.  That  is  the  chief  thing  I  came  to  say.  She 
begs  that  you  will  consent  to  take  a  full  course  at  the 
Institute  where  she  was  educated.  She  has  money, 
and  will  gladly  pay  all  your  expenses.  What  can 
you  do  here  during  this  foolish  and  horrible  war  ? 
I  know  of  people  who  are  going  North  while  they 
can.  You  must  go  with  them.  And  you  must  get 
ready  right  away." 

Persis  arose.  It  was  always  more  natural  for  her 
to  stand  than  to  sit,  to  move  about  than  to  remain 
still.  She  now  stood,  her  clear  eyes  in  those  of  her 
visitor,  her  sunburned  hand  upon  the  top  slat  of  the 
high-backed,  split-bottomed  chair  in  which  she  had 


176  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

been  seated.  While  he  spoke  she  stood  straighter, 
took  her  hand  from  the  chair,  and  put  her  hair  hack 
from  her  forehead  with  it.  If  her  color  freshened  a 
little,  it  was  merely  because  she  saw  Koss  through  and 
through.  But  she  was  practical  enough. 

"  Thank  you,  Ross.  I  mean,"  she  corrected  herself, 
"  I  thank  your  mother.  Yes,  I  want  to  be  educated. 
I  intend  to  be  educated  some  day.  And  I  intend  to 
go  East  to  do  it  since  I  cannot  do  it  here.  But  I 
cannot  go  in  that  way,  even  if  I  could  leave  now. 
I  'm  going  to  educate  myself,"  she  said  simply.  There 
was  no  sentiment  about  it.  She  spoke  as  if  it  was 
of  a  pie  she  was  about  to  bake,  a  dress  for  herself 
she  was  intending  to  make. 

"  But  you  have  no  relations,  Persis,"  Eoss  persisted. 
"  And  you  have  no  —  " 

"  Money  ?  No,  not  a  cent.  I  don't  know  now  how 
I  will  do  it.  But  I  will  know  some  day.  I  'm  going 
to  learn  everything  girls  learn  or  ought  to  know. 
But,"  and  she  looked  at  him,  steadying  herself  to  do 
it,  "  I  'm  going  to  do  it  for  myself.  That  is  the  best 
part  of  it.  You  will  see." 

"  But,  Persis  —  "  he  began. 

At  this  moment  Rachel  came  up  the  steps,  her  big 
bundle  of  yarn  in  its  blue  paper  wrappings  in  her 
arms.  There  was  as  much  more,  but  that  was  to  be 
sent  after  her,  and  she  wanted  to  begin  at  the  socks 
at  once.  Rachel  was  sick  at  heart  to  see  Ross  go, 
for  was  he  not  like  a  brother  to  her?  The  tears 
began  to  trickle  down  her  face  the  moment  she  seated 
herself,  she  could  hardly  see  to  put  the  first  stitches 


A   DECISION.  177 

upon  her  needles.  Eoss  went  down  the  steps  and  to 
his  mare  tied  at  the  post.  "  Maggie  is  eager  to  be 
going,"  he  explained  as  he  came  back,  "and  I  was 
afraid  her  halter  might  work  loose."  But  he  did  not 
care  to  remain.  Rachel  might  have  complained  of 
his  parting  with  her,  it  was  so  evident  he  was  think 
ing  of  something  else  as  he  bade  her  good-by.  As  he 
held  the  hand  of  Persis  in  parting,  "  You  will  do  as  I 
wish  ! "  he  almost  commanded. 

"  Thank  you,  I  cannot."  It  was  said  in  a  gentle 
voice  ;  but  her  face,  her  manner,  must  have  suggested 
something  to  him  he  had  not  thought  of  before,  for 
during  all  the  days  which  followed,  whenever  Persis 
thought  of  Ross,  —  and  that  she  never  ceased  to  do,  — 
what  she  saw  was  his  great  blaqk  eyes  fastened  fix 
edly  upon  her  in  sudden,  searching,  perplexed,  almost 
insolent  inquiry.  There  was  something  about  her 
he  could  not  understand. 

He  mounted  his  mare,  rode  rapidly  away;  the 
sound  of  the  hoofs  was  dying  away  in  the  distance 
when  Persis  lifted  her  head  suddenly,  listened,  and 
arose  in  agitation,  white  and  trembling. 

"  0  Eachel ! "  she  exclaimed,  "he  is  coming  back ; " 
and  while  she  said  it  he  was  dismounting  again  at 
the  gate.  It  was  cruel  to  subject  her  to  another  part 
ing,  but  she  strengthened  herself  to  endure  it. 

When  he  carne  in  he  seemed  not  to  see  that  she  was 
there.  "  I  forgot  one  thing,"  he  said  to  Eachel. 

"  What  is  it  ? "  she  asked,  with  doubtful  eyes. 

"  Only  a  gourd  of  water,  if  you  please." 

At  the  shadiest  end  of  the  porch  was  a  shelf 
12 


178  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

scrubbed  white,  on  that  a  cedar  pail,  the  wood  and 
brazen  hoops  doubly  scoured  until  the  red  of  the 
cedar  and  the  glitter  of  the  brass  was  as  of  a  utensil 
sacred  to  the  gods.  Over  this  hung,  trebly  scrubbed, 
a  long-handled  gourd,  pure  yellow  without,  pure  white 
within.  With  eyes  full  of  doubt,  Rachel  dipped  it 
into  the  cool  water,  lifting  the  white  oak  cover  which, 
like  a  more  solid  flake  of  snow,  hid  the  water  from 
dust,  to  do  so,  and  handed  it  to  Ross,  who  remained 
standing.  He  drank  and  held  the  gourd  in  his  hand. 

"  By  the  by,"  he  said  to  Rachel,  "  you  are  deter 
mined,  are  you,  to  stay  in  Ocklawahaw  ? " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  Why,"  she  asked  in  won 
der,  "must  I  tell  you  again  ?  Of  course  I  intend  to 
stay.  I  told  you  that  Persis  and  I  will  be  happy 
together."  What  she  did  not  tell  Ross  was  that  she 
had  endeavored  in  vain  to  induce  Persis  to  go  East 
with  her  to  some  place  in  which  their  education  could 
be  completed,  but  Persis  would  not.  She  earned  her 
bread,  as  it  was,  by  helping  Mr.  Clarke  in  the  acad 
emy  ;  she  had  no  money,  she  resented  the  idea  of 
depending  upon  her  friend.  All  this  Ross  knew  very 
well. 

"  It  is  impossible  for  anybody  to  understand  you  ! " 
He  turned  almost  angrily  upon  Persis.  "  When  you 
know  that  Ocklawahaw  is  no  place  during  such  times 
as  these  for  girls  like  you  two  ! " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  Persis  was  surprised  out 
of  her  grief. 

"  You  are  so  fickle.  I  can  remember  when  you  were 
eager  to  go  East,  eager  to  be  educated." 


A   DECISION.  179 

Persis  could  not  comprehend  him.  Her  aston 
ishment  held  her  silent.  It  was  easy  to  check  her 
tears.  Her  long  and  bitter  weeping  of  nights,  weep 
ing  so  bitterly  over  the  loss  of  everything  uow,  had 
drained  them  dry.  She  looked  full  in  the  eyes  of 
Boss  at  last.  "  I  can  study  where  I  am,"  she  said. 

"  But  it  perplexes  me,"  he  insisted,  "that  you  should 
value  land  as  you  do  in  comparison  with  education." 

"  Land  ? "     Her  eyes  grew  larger  as  she  asked  it. 

"  Yes,  land.  Your  grandfather's  property  is  yours- 
Since  you  wish,"  Eoss  continued,  "  to  go  East,  why  not 
sell  your  river  tract  ?  It  is  heavily  timbered ;  the 
soil  is  rich ;  it  will  be  valuable  some  day  when  emi 
gration  is  coming  in.  Sell  it  to  me.  I  can  pay  cash 
for  it,  and  I  will  hold  it  for  speculation." 

The  colors  as  of  a  new  life  were  flushing  the  face 
of  Persis  ;  her  lips  parted  ;  her  eyes  sparkled.  "  I  did 
not  know  grandpa  owned  any  land.  Why  did  n't  he 
tell  me  about  it  ?  Are  you  sure  ? "  She  could  hardly 
speak. 

"  That  is  the  objection  I  had  to  Parson  Williams," 
Ross  said  angrily.  "He  was  so  taken  up  with  his 
preaching  that  he  forgot  everything  else !  I  can 
pay  you  enough  on  it  for  you  to  go  East  and  make 
a  beginning,  at  least.  After  a  while  you  will  be 
prepared  to  teach  there ;  the  money  will  hold  out 
with  economy  until  then.  At  least  I  would  suppose 
so."  And  he  entered  rapidly,  but  at  length,  into  how 
many  acres  there  were,  what  it  was  worth  now,  how 
much  he  might  be  able  to  sell  it  for  hereafter.  He 
did  not  say  so,  but  the  impression  he  produced  in 


180  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Persis  was  that,  in  some  way,  very  long  ago  her 
grandfather  had  come  into  ownership  of  the  land  by 
virtue  of  being  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Ocklawa- 
haw.  Ross  had  much  to  add  as  to  the  danger  of 
their  remaining  in  Ocklawahaw,  as  to  the  advantages 
of  schools  elsewhere ;  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
how  important  it  was  for  him  to  be  off.  Persis 
was  not  listening  to  him,  although  she  stood  with 
drooping  eyes ;  the  surprise  of  her  joy  was  gone. 
How  could  she  go  so  far  away  when  Eoss  might  any 
day  be  brought  back  to  Ocklawahaw,  brought  back 
perhaps  to  die  ? 

"  Curse  Ocklawahaw ! "  he  ejaculated  irrelevantly, 
savagely.  "  For  my  part,  I  never  intend  to  enter  the 
place  again ! " 

Persis  lifted  her  gaze  to  his  face  in  a  wild  conflict 
of  feeling.  Tears  were  in  her  eyes  while  she  almost 
laughed.  Then  her  eyes  fell  again. 

When  he  first  spoke,  Rachel  drew  back  a  little  and 
looked  at  him.  His  face,  already  dogged,  became  more 
so  as  he  felt  that  her  wise  eyes  were  upon  him,  and 
he  talked  on.  Long  before  he  was  done  Rachel 
dropped  her  eyes;  she  understood  sufficiently,  and 
kept  her  secret  forever  after.  Had  Persis  not  been 
of  so  excitable  a  nature,  she  might  have  suspected,  but 
at  first  she  did  not.  The  change  in  her  plans  was  so 
sudden  !  She  was  lifted  from  her  feet,  bewildered. 
Was  it  possible  that  her  one  life-long  wish  could  really 
be  fulfilled  ?  It  was  only  of  that  she  thought,  except 
of  this,  that  Ross  was  evidently  so  glad  to  get  her 
land  !  He  had  long  wanted  it,  he  told  her ;  he  would 


A   DECISION.  181 

make  money  on  it.  Even  then,  sweetest  of  all  to  her 
was  it,  that  she  had  it  in  her  power  to  let  him  have 
what  he  wanted.  It  must  be  a  matter  of  great  im 
portance,  he  had  been  in  such  dreadful  haste  to  leave. 
Bachel  went  into  the  kitchen  to  hurry  Seelye  about 
the  supper,  for  now  Eoss  must  ride  all  night  to  make 
up  for  lost  time.  He  left  her,  and  went  to  drag  the 
chicken  trough  out  through  the  gate.  Then,  without 
taking  the  saddle  off  his  mare,  he  brought  from  the 
crib  behind  the  house  an  armful  of  ears  of  corn,  at 
sight  of  which  his  mare  began  to  whinny,  pawing  the 
earth  with  her  impatient  hoofs.  Persis  stood  in  the 
porch,  her  hand  upon  the  railing,  watching  him  as  if 
in  a  dream.  She  saw  him  throw  the  ears  upon  the 
ground  at  his  feet,  saw  every  motion  as  he  picked 
them  up  one  by  one,  stripped  off  the  husk  and  threw 
the  corn  into  the  trough.  She  heard  the  noise  made 
by  the  mare  while  it  ate,  was  keenly  aware  of  every 
line  of  Ross's  face  as  he  stood  at  last  beside  the 
animal,  his  right  hand  upon  the  pommel  of  the  saddle, 
his  feet  in  the  litter  of  yellow  shucks,  looking  down 
into  the  trough.  He  seemed  struck  for  the  time  into 
the  bronze  of  a  statue,  so  still  he  became.  His  face 
was  almost  sharp,  it  was  so  worn  and  thoughtful  in 
comparison  with  what  it  used  to  be. 

Then  Persis  was  filled  afresh  with  the  vague  horror 
of  a  war  which  nobody  could  understand,  —  why  it 
was,  what  it  was,  how  long  it  might  last,  how  it  might 
end ;  war  coming  irresistibly  on  like  the  shadow  of  an 
awful  night.  And  Eoss  was  so  utterly  cut  off  hence 
forth  from  everybody. 


182  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  But  he  is  sufficient  for  anything,"  Persis  thought, 
her  eyes  upon  him,  "  sufficient  in  himself ! "  And 
with  the  glow  of  pride  in  him  came  the  new  resolve 
deeper  than  ever,  "  Thank  God,  I  am  going  where  I 
can  make  myself  into  something  beyond  what  he 
thinks  —  " 

After  a  while  Ross  went  into  the  house,  asked  Ra- 
chel  for  pen  and  ink,  not  looking  her  in  the  eyes  as 
he  did  so,  and  wrote  out  a  long  paper  for  the  signa 
ture  of  Persis.  The  girl  did  not  read  a  line  of  it, 
signing  it  with  a  hand  which  trembled. 

"  What  a  fool  I  am  !  Why  should  it  ?  "  she  asked 
of  herself,  pretending  afterward  to  read  the  document, 
but  not  making  out  a  single  word. 

"  Ross  ! "  She  said  it  suddenly,  sharply,  planting 
herself  before  him. 

"  Are  you  not  deceiving  me  ? "  she  asked,  endeav 
oring  to  hold  her  eyes  very  firmly  to  his. 

"  Deceiving  you  ! "  He  was  astonished.  "  If  I 
have  not  given  you  enough,  say  so,"  he  remonstrated. 
"  I  buy  on  speculation,  you  know.  As  it  is,  I  may 
lose  money." 

"  No,  no ! "  she  said  impatiently,  "  not  that !  Did 
my  grandfather  really  and  truly  own  the  land  ?  Why 
did  n't  I  know  of  it  before  ?  Are  you  sure  —  "  But 
Rachel  was  calling  them  in  to  supper.  Their  guest 
talked  rapidly  of  everything  else  as  they  ate,  and 
before  Persis  had  emerged  from  her  amazed  condition 
he  had  shaken  hands  with  them,  had  mounted  his 
horse,  and  was  gone,  this  time  for  good. 

Persis  watched  him  with  such  intentuess  that  she 


A  DECISION.  183 

noticed  ho  said  something  to  Rachel,  in  the  act  of  his 
hurried  parting  with  her.  It  was  merely  good-by, 
Persis  supposed.  The  words  so  smote  upon  Rachel, 
low  spoken  as  they  were,  that  she  looked  up  astounded. 
And  yet  they  were  only,  "For  God's  sake,  Eachel, 
take  good  care  of  her  ! "  and  he  was  galloping  away. 

At  last,  Persis  was  but  a  girl.  With  the  next  day 
came  the  very  desperation  of  getting  ready  to  go  be 
fore  the  war  would  make  it  impossible.  Again  and 
again  she  stole  to  her  room  to  count  over  and  over 
the  little  buckskin  bag  of  gold  Ross  had  left  as  the 
first  payment  on  her  land.  "  I  did  not  know  I  loved 
money  so ! "  she  laughed,  catching  herself  kissing 
each  coin  as  she  took  it  up,  and  again  as  she  laid  it 
in  its  own  row.  "  And,  O  you  darlings,  how  can  I 
bear  to  spend  you!"  Then  she  laughed  and  cried, 
conscious  mainly  of  who  had  paid  her  the  gold. 

Mitchabuna,  now  Mrs.  Clarke,  did  what  she  could 
to  assist  the  young  girls  in  their  packing.  She  was 
dressed  like  a  bride  of  eighteen,  and  was  laughing 
and  chattering  accordingly.  "  I  am  glad  to  have 
Seelye,"  she  said.  "  Mr.  Clarke  likes  good  cooking." 
And  she  blushed  a  little.  "  And,  oh,  how  sorry  I  am 
that  you  are  going  away ! "  But  it  was  very  evident 
that  it  was  of  her  new  husband,  so  many  years 
younger  than  herself,  she  was  thinking.  Having 
him,  it  was  little  she  cared  for  any  one  beside ;  it 
brought  color  into  even  the  placid  face  of  Rachel  to 
listen  to  her. 

"  Who  would  have  thought  it  ? "  Rachel  said  to  her 
self  a  dozen  times  a  day,  in  the  little  while  left  her 


184  BLESSED  SATNT  CERTAINTY. 

before  leaving  Ocklawahaw,  —  said  it,  but  not  of  the 
bride,  for  Persis  seemed  another  person.  She  could 
not  be  got  to  bed  before  midnight,  and  Seelye  found 
her  up  before  her,  when  she  arose  at  daybreak  to  get 
her  "  salt  rising  "  ready  for  the  baking.  All  day  Persis 
\vas  in  and  out  of  the  house,  up  stairs  and  down, 
helping  and  hindering  Eachel,  now  full  of  their  plans, 
then  silent  for  long  spaces,  and  seeming  to  hear  little 
that  was  said  to  her.  She  had  moods  of  sudden 
affection  for  Eachel,  hugging  and  kissing  her,  then 
she  would  steal  away  and  lock  herself  into  her  own 
room  for  a  cry,  or  slip  on  her  sun-bonnet  and  hasten 
out  on  a  remorseful  visit  to  her  grandfather's  grave. 
After  that  her  face  would  beam  out  more  brightly 
than  ever,  and  she  would  laugh  and  talk  until  even 
Seelye  felt  compelled  to  say,  "  Law  me,  Miss  Persis, 
how  you  do  carry  on !  You  act  like  as  if  you  was 
possessed.  Look  at  Miss  Rachel ;  she  is  goin'  too,  an' 
she  is  as  still  as  a  mouse.  An'  you  is  goin'  out  into 
de  wide  an'  weeked  world ;  you  better  be  sayin'  your 
praars,  Miss  Persis ! " 


EX  PL  AN  A  TOR  Y.  185 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

EXPLANATORY. 

T  DO  not  intend  to  go  into  any  detail  of  what  befell 
•*-  my  friends  or  myself  during  the  war  between 
the  North  and  the  South.  Like  every  man,  South 
and  North,  I  had  a  general  idea,  before  it  began,  of 
the  political  questions  involved;  and,  with  almost 
every  soul  of  us,  North  and  South,  I  was  unprepared 
when  the  smooth  flowing  of  our  national  life  so  sud 
denly  quickened  toward  the  cataract.  The  wholly 
unexpected  rush  of  things  whirled  my  little  bark, 
also,  round  and  round,  and  made  my  heart  as  dizzy  as 
my  head,  —  like  most  people,  the  country  over,  in  this 
also. 

Although  born  of  New  England  parents,  and  in  the 
North,  my  home  had  been  from  infancy  upon  a  little 
island  off  the  coast  of  South  Carolina ;  and  whatever 
ripening  of  character  I  have  known  has  been  under  a 
Southern  sun.  Old  Orange  was,  at  the  time  I  was 
there,  largely  attended  by  young  men  from  the  South, 
although  it  was  across  the  lines ;  and  as  any  one,  in 
making  a  wreath,  would  naturally  and  for  very  vari 
ety's  sake  weave  together  oak  and  olive,  palm  and 
pine,  so  I  chose  my  friends  from  the  one  section  or 
the  other,  according  merely  to  their  diversity  of  ex- 


186  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

cellence.  After  leaving  college  I  was  in  Europe  for 
a  while,  and  spent  my  time  thereafter  in  North  or 
South,  as  nature  worked  in  me  toward  the  same 
variety  of  enjoyment. 

Up  even  to  the  first  shot  of  the  war  I  was  almost 
as  ignorant  as  a  baby  of  the  possibility  of  such  a 
thing.  I  dare  say  I  had  studied  the  question  as 
much  as  any  man  of  my  age,  yet  /  had  no  intention 
of  cursing,  much  less  of  killing  anybody,  as  a  step  in 
the  direction  of  settling  it.  And  so  it  happened  that, 
one  day,  before  that  first  shot  was  fired,  I  was  lying 
at  length  upon  the  sandy  side  of  my  island,  dreamily 
solving,  as  well  as  I  could,  the  political  conundrum, 
when  a  low  sullen  sound  came  to  me  over  the  water 
from  toward  Charleston.  Understanding  on  the  in 
stant  what  it  meant,  it  fell  upon  me,  that  single 
sudden  sound,  like  a  great  drop  of  blood,  —  the  first 
of  the  rain  that  was  to  follow.  Let  me  change  the 
figure.  When  I  was  in  college,  our  professor  of  chem 
istry  held  before  the  class,  one  morning,  a  goblet  of 
what  appeared  to  be  muddy  water.  Holding  up  the 
glass  with  his  left  hand,  he  tapped  upon  the  edge  of 
it  with  the  little  finger  of  his  right.  It  was  but  one 
slight  tap,  but  in  an  instant  the  floating  sediment 
had  crystallized  into  a  solid  substance,  leaving  the 
water  transparently  clear ;  and  there  it  was  at  the 
bottom  of  the  goblet  with  angles  mathematically  ac 
curate  and  sharp  as  steel.  So  it  was  with  me,  as 
with  millions  more  on  the  one  side  and  the  other, 
that  eventful  morning.  The  moment  before,  my  mind 
was  merely  a  bewilderment  of  floating  and  conflicting 


EXPLANA  TORY.  187 

opinions,  and  I  had  as  little  to  do  with  what  befell  to 
me  thereafter  as  the  professor  with  his  chemical 
results.  Yet,  as  the  distant  cannon  struck  my  ear,  I 
rose  to  my  feet,  my  soul  crystallized  into  exceedingly 
accurate  shape,  and  in  the  clearest  of  atmospheres. 

The  next  day  I  turned  everything  over  to  the  care 
of  my  overseer  and  came  North,  remaining  there,  ex 
cept  as  I  was  employed  in  the  sanitary  service  occa 
sionally,  during  the  whole  war.  I  did  not  fight,  an 
infirmity  of  heart  as  of  health  preventing  that ;  but  I 
had  acquired,  before  the  strife  began,  some  little  repu 
tation  as  a  writer,  and  I  did  what  in  me  lay,  for  what 
I  thought  the  right,  both  upon  the  platform  and  with 
my  pen.  And  I  will  only  add  that  I  did  not  know 
before  that  I  had  as  much  soul  to  put  into  anything 
as  I  had  then.  There  was  not  the  smallest  merit  in 
it.  I  simply  yielded  to  what  was  my  conscience  in 
the  matter,  as  a  man  does  to  gravitation. 

Among  the  most  intimate  of  my  friends  is  Dr. 
Steven  Trent.  We  were  classmates  in  college ;  but  it 
was  his  marriage  to  a  Miss  Revel  Vandyke  which 
brought  us  into  the  close  relation  in  which  we  stood 
to  each  other  ever  after.  Not  that  she  was  of  kin  to 
me,  or  that  I  had  enjoyed  any  measure  of  acquaint 
ance  witli  her  before  her  marriage.  I  venture  even  to 
doubt  whether  I  could  have  come  to  like  her  as  I  did, 
if  she  had  remained  single,  charming  as  she  must 
always  have  been.  The  fact  is,  she  was  one  of  those 
women  to  whom  marriage  makes  all  the  difference 
in  the  world.  It  may  be  that  it  was  her  union  to 
precisely  such  a  man  as  Dr.  Trent ;  but,  as  a  result, 


188  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

she  bloomed  out  into  what  I  must  always  consider 
as,  one  woman  excepted,  the  flower  of  all  the  wives 
I  have  known.  I  like  people  in  general;  but  Mrs. 
Trent  had  this  in  common  with  her  husband,  that 
she  suited  me  exactly,  minutely,  mathematically ; 
and  there  is  only  one  person  beside  of  whom  I 
can  say  that.  Unless  I  am  grievously  deceived,  the 
Doctor  and  his  wife  like  me  "  only  a  little  less "  — 
they  have  solemnly  assured  me  —  "  than  we  like  each 
other." 

"  As  to  Jean,"  Mrs.  Trent  has  added  in  regard  to 
their  little  daughter,  "  I  am  afraid  she  loves  you  more 
than  she  does  her  own  parents,  because  you  spoil  her, 
as  you  do  your  namesake  also ; "  for  their  little  boy, 
when  he  came,  was  named  after  me. 

It  happened  that,  almost  from  the  hour  of  the 
marriage  of  Dr.  Trent  and  his  wife,  I  was  a  visitor, 
off  and  on,  in  the  city  in  the  East  in  which  they  lived. 
Whatever  literary  successes  I  had  were  enjoyed  by 
them  more  than  by  Inyself ;  for  I  found  it  impossible 
to  estimate  either  my  books  or  myself  as  highly  as 
they  did. 

During  my  years  in  college  I  suffered  terribly  from 
a  malady  which  caused  me  to  receive,  because  I 
craved  it  so  thirstily,  a  larger  measure  of  sympathy, 
interest,  affection,  than  is  given  to  people  in  ruder 
health.  After  leaving  college  I  slowly  recovered 
from  it  by  my  trip  to  Europe ;  by  living  a  simple 
life  upon  my  island;  most  of  all,  I  think,  by  hard 
and  enthusiastic  work.  But  it  left  a  certain  impres 
sion  upon  my  character.  People  persist  in  making  a 


EXPLANA  TOR  Y.  189 

difference  in  my  case.  I  enjoy  without  fully  under 
standing  it;  but  I  am  singularly  favored  somehow. 
Perhaps  it  is  because  I  have  so  sincere  an  interest 
in  them ;  but  people  do  manifest  an  interest  in  me, 
the  more  as  we  know  each  other  better,  which  is  very 
delightful. 

Dr.  Trent  was  a  medical  man  by  diploma  of  nature, 
too,  and  had  achieved  an  extensive  practice  as  a 
physician.  He  would  never  have  made  himself  rich 
as  such. 

"  Steven's  interest  in  a  patient,"  his  wife  was  wont 
to  say,  "  exhausts  itself  in  caring  for  and  curing  him. 
As  to  being  paid  for  doing  so,  /  have  to  see  to  that." 

The  family  were  poor  enough,  as  I  chanced  to  know 
only  too  well,  when,  not  long  before  the  war,  an  old 
uncle  of  the  Doctor  died.  Donald  McGregor  \vas  his 
name,  and  he  was  very  rich.  He  bequeathed  Mrs. 
Trent  a  handsome  amount ;  but  the  bulk  of  his  fortune 
he  left  to  little  Jean,  appointing  her  father  as  almost 
sole  trustee. 

"  I  can  see  now,"  Mrs.  Trent  told  me,  "  why  it  was 
better  that  Steven  should  care  more  for  his  practice 
than  for  money.  Now  that  it  is  not  necessary  he 
should  be  paid  anything,  he  has  gone  into  it  with 
more  interest  than  ever.  He  is  so  ardent,  you  know, 
in  regard  to  whatever  he  undertakes.  Now  he  can 
be  independent,  can  take  only  the  worst  cases  if  he 
chooses.  But  I  tell  him  that  he  would  never  have 
been  made  Professor  in  the  Medical  College  if  people 
had  not  an  idea  that  he  was  rich." 

Mrs.  Trent  laughed  as  she  said  it.     I  liked  to  hear 


190  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

her  laugh.  She  was  not  a  slight  and  delicately 
framed  woman,  neither  was  she  so  large  as  to  sug 
gest  coarseness.  Without  an  atom  of  mere  senti 
ment,  singularly  sensible  even  in  regard  to  the  Doctor  , 
and  her  children,  she  had  a  power  of  loving  which 
fascinated  me  with  her  as  one  is  in  the  smooth 
and  silent  flowing  of  a  deep  river.  Her  husband  had 
been  driven  almost  beside  himself  during  the  days  of 
their  poverty,  for  he  was  the  most  sensitive  of  men, 
you  could  see  that  in  the  cut  of  his  lips.  It  was  his 
keen  sensitiveness  to  suffering  which  made  him  the 
physician  he  was,  it  put  him  so  completely  in  the 
very  place  of  his  patient,  it  gave  him  such  intuition 
as  to  remedy.  So  terribly  did  he  suffer  when  poor 
and  crushed  with  debt  that  he  would  have  killed 
himself  or  gone  crazy  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  wife. 
And  it  had  been  good  practice  for  her,  having  to  sus 
tain  him  then  as  she  did.  When  they  became  rich, 
and  suddenly,  with  the  long  habit  there  came  to  her 
a  vast  power,  now,  of  helping  whoever  needed  help, 
and  she  yielded,  governed  by  her  native  sense,  to  her 
liabit  of  loving,  to  her  love  of  loving,  to  a  degree 
which  made  her  the  happiest  woman  I  knew.  Her 
health,  also,  was  such  that  one  day  I  rehearsed  it 
over  to  be  able  to  say  to  her,  "  Mrs.  Trent,  I  know 
a  black  woman  of  about  your  age  down  South  who, 
from  sheer  animal  perfection,  cannot  cease  at  least 
to  smile  from  dawn  to  dark.  You  ought  to  hear  her 
laugh  and  sing !  Now,  disrobe  Gorilla  —  that  is  her 
name  —  of  her  color  and  excess  of  flesh,  purify  her  of 
her  ignorance  and  frivolity,  make  her  happiness  to 


EX  PL  AN  A  TOR  Y.  191 

be  free  from  the  faintest  taint  in  blood  or  spirit,  and 
you  yourself  are  Gorilla  over  again !  Pardon  me, 
madam,  but  the  sugar  on  the  plantation  is  dark,  I 
know,  and  even  dirty,  and  yet  the  article  upon  your 
breakfast-table,  as  pure  and  white  as  drifted  snow, 
•what  is  it  but  the  same  plantation  sugar  refined  ? 
Yes,  Mrs.  Trent,  you  are  Gorilla  refined.  In  heaven 
you  will  have  been  put  more  thoroughly  through  the 
same  process." 

I  say,  I  went  over  this  remark  in  my  mind,  intend 
ing  to  say  it  to  my  friend,  but,  on  the  whole,  con 
cluded  not  to  do  so.  Some  day  we  can  be  franker  of 
speech  to  each  other  than,  now  and  here,  we  dare  to 
be.  Allow  me  to  record  it,  however,  toward  explain 
ing  things. 

The  only  reason  I  have  spoken  of  myself  at  all  is 
to  say  that  I  was  in  the  city  in  which  Dr.  Trent  and 
his  wife  lived  when  Persis  -and  Rachel  came  thither 
from  Ocklawahaw.  Boss  Urwoldt  had  told  me  a 
great  deal  about  his  home  when  he  was  with  me  in 
college.  Moreover,  I  was,  as  I  have  said,  his  only 
correspondent  afterward.  My  long  and  frequent  let 
ters  may  have  stirred  him  up  to  it ;  but  he  wrote  me 
often  from  Ocklawahaw,  and  always  informed  me 
concerning  the  two  girls  in  his  letters. 

And  so  it  was  that  I  came  to  have  quite  a  part  in 
Persis  and  Rachel  before  I  saw  them.  The  fact  that 
they  had  come  from  such  a  dismal  region  at  such  a 
period,  especially  that  they  came  for  such  a  purpose, 
made  me  almost  eager  to  meet  them. 

I  think  you  will  like  them,  Mr.  Guernsey,"  Mrs. 


192  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Trent  said  to  me  before  I  called  on  them.  "Dr. 
Trent  does.  I  do  not  know  when  I  have  seen  any 
persons  in  whom  I  have  taken  such  an  interest." 

There  is  not  a  more  sensible  woman  than  Mrs. 
Trent,  and  we  are  sworn  allies;  but  the  scientific 
accuracy  of  the  times  prohibited  me  from  accepting 
blindly  what  she  said.  She  was  so  round  and  rosy  a 
matron,  because,  as  any  one  could  see,  her  heart,  warm 
and  abundant,  came  readily  to  the  surface  in  behalf 
of  whoever  had  any  claim  upon  her.  The  more  help 
less  such  persons  were,  so  much  the  more  promptly 
did  she  class  them  with  her  two  children,  Jean  and 
Guernsey,  and  become  as  a  mother  to  them  right 
away,  —  as  she  was  also  to  me,  and  that  although  she 
was,  by  some  years,  the  younger  of  the  two. 


NEW-COMERS.  193 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

NEW-COMERS. 

it  was  that  I  called  so  soon  upon  the 
young  ladies.  Now,  to  me  the  dreariest  abode 
on  earth  is  a  city  boarding-house.  "  Poor  things  !  I 
hope,"  I  murmured  to  myself  as  I  went  to  make  my 
visit  to  them,  "that  there  will  be  an  exception  in 
this  case."  But  there  was  not.  The  building,  when 
I  reached  it,  was  what  is  styled,  with  unconscious 
sarcasm,  "  a  swelled  front,"  that  is,  a  brick  five-story 
house,  the  face  thereof  toward  the  street  protuberant, 
and  with  windows  like  eyes  starting  from  their 
sockets  as  if  straining  itself  in  envious  emulation  of 
the  structures  upon  the  left  hand  and  the  right. 
There  were  few  better  streets  in  the  city ;  you  could 
see  that  the  house  was  conscious  of  that.  As  I 
feared,  there  was  a  highly  scoured  condition  of  pave 
ment  in  front,  of  door-steps  and  bell-pull,  which 
assured  me  that  the  building  was  not  a  home,  but  a 
public  institution  prepared  for  inspection.  The  col 
ored  man  in  a  white  apron  who  answered  the  ring 
was,  as  I  expected,  a  public  functionary ;  and  I  was 
let  in  as  one  of  the  many  restless  atoms  coming  and 
going  in  and  out  as  of  a  post-office  or  a  custom-house, 
was  one  more  troublesome  thing,  not  a  person,  and 

13 


194  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

I  knew  that  my  death  in  some  upper  room,  had  I 
boarded  there,  would  be  less,  except  for  the  additional 
bother  it  caused,  than  the  breaking  of  the  pier-glass 
of  the  front  parlor  into  which  I  was  ushered. 

"  There  are  the  same  marble-topped  tables,  the 
identical  lambrequins  to  the  windows,"  I  complained, 
as  I  took  a  seat  upon  the  extreme  edge  of  a  linen- 
covered  chair.  "  Beatrice  Cenci,  of  course,  over  the 
bronze  clock  on  the  mantel.  If  she  would  but  turn 
her  everlasting  head  a  little  farther  around  and  twist 
it  off !  Yes,  and  yonder  is  the  Whatnot,  —  the  Syn 
onym,  it  should  be  named,  —  with  the  same  china 
images,  gilded  vases,  books  for  show.  No  children 
are  allowed  in  this  institution,  that  is  evident.  Yon 
der,  behind  the  half-opened  folding-doors,  is  the 
drawing-room,  smaller,  darker,  gloomier  than  this. 
Is  .this  Sahara  ?  or  is  it  that,  from  living  on  my 
island,  and  in  the  open  sun  and  air,  I  am  become  a 
Tiji  savage  ? " 

But  at  this  point  I  checked  all  tendency  to  lounge 
upon  my  starched  seat,  for  the  inevitable  lady  of  the 
house  dropped  in,  with  the  same  snowy  puffs  on 
either  side  of  her  face.  She  was  a  widow,  I  knew,  — 
one  of  the  best  of  women,  I  made  no  doubt ;  but  how 
could  I  help  knowing,  too,  that  it  was  not  to  let  in 
the  lawless  air  that  she  lifted  the  sash  an  inch,  nor 
was  it  to  correct  a  tidy  upon  a  corner  chair  that  she 
gave  it  a  twitch.  Had  I  been  a  book  agent  she  would 
have  known  it.  Were  I  a  gentlemanly  sneak  thief, 
she  would  have  had  the  police  in  forthwith.  If  I 
had*  called  as  a  lover  I  would  have  assured  her,  un- 


NEW-COMERS.  195 

questioned,  —  she  had  such  investigating  eyes,  —  that 
my  intentions  were  honorable.  But  nothing  gratifies 
me  more  than  to  see,  or  fancy  I  see,  how  even  hard  and 
suspicious  faces,  of  women  also,  soften  a  little  as  they 
glance  at  me.  I  like  them,  whoever  they  are,  and  I 
dare  say  they  see  it  in  me.  Had  the  prim  lady  been 
forty  years  younger,  she  would  have  been  perched 
upon  my  knee  in  two  minutes,  perhaps  allowed  me  to 
kiss  her  before  I  left. 

I  was  glad  that  the  ladies  I  came  to  see  were  not 
in  at  the  moment,  but  had  left  word  that  they  soon 
would  be.  That  I  understood.  "  They  are  new 
comers  to  the  city,"  I  reflected,  "  and  cannot  keep 
within  doors.  They  are  right."  And  then  I  went 
back  in  memory  to  the  dull  town  in  which  they  had 
lived  so  long,  as  Ross  had  described  it  to  me,  its  pon 
derous  live-oaks  draped  with  gray  moss,  its  dense 
river  bottoms,  its  lounging  population,  its  ignorant, 
contented  stagnation.  "  It  must  be  like  heaven  to 
them,"  I  said,  "  these  bright  streets  and  busy  people. 
They  will  be  as  new  to  me  as  everything  here  is  to 
them.  One  likes  to  open  a  letter,  to  cut  the  leaves  of 
a  magazine  just  out,  to  untie  a  bundle  —  " 

At  this  moment  a  young  lady  came  into  the  parlor. 
I  have  a  positive  zest  for  people,  not  when  they  are 
before  me  in  the  mass,  like  the  sea,  but  singly,  like 
pure  water  in  a  glass  to  a  thirsty  man.  Now  I  mod 
ulated  myself  to  the  proprieties  of  a  first  acquaint 
ance,  as  I  arose  and  took  the  hand,  which,  according 
to  the  custom  of  her  own  region,  she  held  out  to  me. 

"  Dark  hair,"  I  rapidly  enumerated  to  myself,  "  dis- 


196  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

posed,  Greek  fashion,  upon  the  small  head.  Bru 
nette  in  complexion,  too.  Fine  eyes.  Good  features. 
Intelligent  face.  Voice  in  keeping."  And  I  con 
tinued  to  hold  her  hand. 

"  I  am  delighted,  Miss  Fersis,  to  see  you  again,"  I 
said  ;  for  she  seemed  a  little  afraid  of  me. 

"  Again  ? "  she  asked,  her  eyes  kindling. 

"Certainly,"  I  said,  and  went  on  to  tell  her  how 
often  Eoss  had  written  or  told  me,  on  his  visits,  about 
her.  "  It  is  as  if  I  knew  you  in  Ocklawahaw,  for 
years  now.  Had  I  met  you  on  the  streets,  I  do  not 
see  how  I  could  have  failed  to  recognize  you ! " 

Her  eyes  fairly  shone  with  pleasure.  It  would  not 
have  been  as  flattering  to  me  at  the  time  had  I  known 
that  she  was  enjoying  a  surprise.  Not  in  regard  to 
me !  Eoss  had  been  enough  interested  in  her,  and 
for  so  long  now,  as  to  write,  to  talk,  about  her.  She 
had  not  thought  of  that! 

"He  used  to  read  us  your  letters,  used  to  tell 
us  so  much  about  you.  Eoss,"  she  added  gravely, 
"  thinks  more  of  you  than  he  does  of  anybody."  And 
she  looked  at  me  shyly,  with  a  species  of  curiosity. 
Dr.  Trent  and  his  wife  must  have  exaggerated  fear 
fully  in  what  they  too  had  said  to  her  about  me,  her 
way  of  regarding  me  was  rather  that  which  one  be 
stows  upon  a  landscape,  a  cathedral,  whereas  it  is 
impossible  for  a  boy  of  ten  to  feel  smaller  than  I  do. 

"  I  insist  from  the  start,"  I  said  in  the  end,  "  that 
our  friendship  shall  begin  from  your  earliest  child 
hood.  Let  us  take  our  time  to  it."  And,  entering  at 
once  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing,  she  laughingly  con- 


NE  W-COMERS.  197 

sented.  In  a  little  while,  assuming  our  acquaintance 
from  that  date,  we  gradually  talked  ourselves  up 
through  the  years  between  to  that  hour.  It  is 
pleasant  to  see  how  rapidly  a  mutual  liking  can  ripen 
where  there  is  sun  enough.  Besides,  Ross  Urwoldt 
had  told  me  so  much,  had  written  of  late  so  many 
details,  that,  apart  from  what  the  Trents  said,  I  was 
in  sympathy  with  my  new  friend  from  the  first. 

"  You  have  come  here  to  study  ? "  I  remarked  at 
last. 

"  As  hard  as  I  can,"  she  assented.  "  My  life  so  far 
has  passed  in  the  Reservation.  I  have  had  no  oppor 
tunities.  Now  I  intend  to  make  up  for  lost  time." 

"  You  have  learned  everything  already,  Ross  writes 
me,"  I  said.  She  opened  her  eyes,  looked  at  me  as 
if  to  detect  a  jest. 

"  Even  what  little  I  have  learned,"  she  said,  "  has, 
my  teachers  now  tell  me,  to  be  unlearned.  No  ;  I  am 
at  the  beginning,  with  everything  to  do.  There  is  so 
very  much  to  know.  I  had  no  idea  how  ignorant  I 
was  until  I  came  here.  All  the  methods  are  different, 
and  I  am  learning  in  order  to  teach,  —  to  teach  here 
if  I  can.  I  must  study  hard,  very  hard.  Rachel  and 
I  have  not  begun  yet."  By  this  time  I  was  allowing 
myself  to  look  away  from  her  to  what  she  wore. 
What  a  lady's  dress  is  made  out  of,  —  the  name  for 
it,  I  mean,  —  how  should  I  know  ?  But  I  fancied, 
from  something  in  the  pleating  of  it  here  and  there, 
the  sharpness  of  the  edges  of  the  rufflings  and  puck- 
erings,  that  it  was  new.  Coming  so  recently  from 
where  she  did,  it  was  reasonable  to  suppose  the  dress 


198  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

was  made  since  she  came  to  the  city.  Now,  the  love 
of  dress,  of  ornamentation,  is  a  quality  which  God 
puts  into  the  nature  of  every  woman.  It  is  sometimes 
carried,  like  everything  else,  to  excess ;  but  a  faculty 
and  a  fondness  for  such  things  is  as  inseparable  from 
her  as  is  her  sex.  Somebody  sings  that 

"  The  world,  which  knows  itself  too  sad, 
Is  proud  to  have  its  women  glad." 

I,  for  one,  like  to  see  a  woman  indulge  herself  and 
me  in  dressing  as  beautifully  as  she  can.  And  to 
me  the  freshness  now  of  my  friend's  clothing  had  the 
charm  of  the  first  leaves  of  spring.  Surely  the  crocus 
enjoys  breaking  out  of  the  earth,  the  cold,  the  dark 
ness,  into  the  silent  laughter  of  its  golden  petals; 
and,  knowing  how  much  this  new-comer  took  pleasure 
in  the  newness  of  all  she  saw  and  heard  and  wore,  I 
enjoyed  it  too,  —  enjoyed  it  the  more  'by  reason,  per 
haps,  of  a  longer,  deeper  practice  and  experience  of 
other  people's  satisfactions. 

We  conversed  all  the  better  for  it,  —  I  exhilarated, 
through  her,  by  the  novelty  of  everything,  until  I 
made,  as  I  am  too  apt  to  do,  a  longer  call  than  I  in 
tended.  As  I  rose  to  go,  begging  pardon  for  having 
stayed  so  long,  Rachel  Beauchamp  came  into  the 
room,  and  I  sat  down  again,  having  —  and  I  was 
not  sorry  for  it  —  my  whole  visit  to  make  over 
again. 

Now,  I  have  not  said  that  Persis  Paige  was  beauti 
ful,  not  even  that  she  was  pretty.  I  do  not  think 
I  would  have  been  specially  struck  with  her  appear 
ance  had  I  seen  her  in,  say,  the  saloon  of  a  steamer 


NEW-COMERS.  199 

upon  which  I  happened  to  be  travelling.  Because  I 
like  people,  women  and  children  chiefly,  in  general, 
it  may  be  easier  for  me  to  deepen  like  into  love  when 
I  come  to  know  any  one  in  particular.  Miss  Rachel 
was  not  in  the  least  like  her  friend,  but  what  I  have 
said  of  beauty  was  equally  true  of  her.  In  this 
instance  we  were  something  more  than  fellow-passen 
gers  on  a  boat,  and,  as  we  talked,  I  did  not  have  to 
study  her  fair  face  and  pure  eyes  very  closely  to  see 
that  she  too,  like  her  friend,  was  well  worth  becom 
ing  better  acquainted  with.  There  was  in  her,  too, 
the  same  dew  of  freshness.  The  change  from  Ock- 
lawahaw  to  the  famous  city  was  very  great,  and  if  she 
was  not  as  intellectual  in  her  tastes  as  Persis,  she  too 
showed  her  pleasure  in  their  new  life.  Many  a  time  I 
have  taken  Trent's  little  Jean  to  a  show,  have  given 
her  a  new  book,  purely  to  watch  the  sudden  dawn  as 
of  a  new  morning  in  her  eyes.  Heaven  knows  there 
are  sadder  sunsets  to  be  seen  in  the  eyes  of  people 
than  anywhere  else,  and  thank  God  for  the  brighter 
sunrises  than  the  east  knows  which  can  be  seen  in 
happy  human  eyes.  So  now. 

"How  can  a  peach  refrain  from  its  down,  the 
flower  at  dawn  from  its  evident  gladness  ? "  I  thought, 
as  I  observed  in  Rachel,  too,  the  same  exhilaration 
under  the  novelty  of  things.  But  she  did  not  have 
as  much  to  say  as  her  friend,  was  not  as  quick  to  an 
ticipate.  I  could  see  the  reply  coming  in  the  eyes  of 
Persis,  could  see  it  before  it  parted  her  lips  to  be  ready 
to  speak  when  I  ceased.  Not  so  with  Rachel.  She 
listened  with  placid  eyes,  heard  me  entirely  through. 


200  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Not  until  I  was  done  did  she  begin  to  frame  her 
answer.  I  could  study  the  freshness  of  her  toilet, 
too,  while  I  listened,  for  she  spoke  slowly,  putting 
a  certain  definite  weight  of  good  sense  in  what  she 
said  which  was  as  pleasing  to  me  as  the  more  rapid 
utterance  of  her  friend.  When  Eachel  came  into 
the  room,  Persis  was  talking  almost  eagerly  with 
me,  her  spirits  were  so  high,  the  topic  of  what  she 
had  to  learn  from  this  teacher  and  that  was  so  inter 
esting  to  her.  With  the  entrance  of  her  companion  I 
saw  that  she  quietly  checked  herself,  silenced  herself, 
at  last.  She  did  more  than  leave  the  conversation  to 
Rachel  instead ;  she  listened  with  interested  eyes  to 
what  her  friend  was  saying,  helped  me  to  draw  her 
out.  It  pleased  me,  the  way  the  more  brilliant  girl 
of  the  two  did  this,  better  than  anything  she  herself 
had  said. 

The  war  made  me,  as  it  did  many  a  better  and 
richer  man,  very  poor.  Coming  North  when  it  began, 
I  was  obliged  to  work  very  hard.  My  daily  bread 
was  earned  as  a  writer,  but  I  never  touched  my  pen 
after  dinner.  It  was  in  the  afternoon  I  made  my 
visit.  A  first  call  should  have  been  shorter,  but 
I  am  ashamed  to  say  I  stayed  until  the  tea-bell 
rang. 

"  Mrs.  Trent  could  not  come  with  me  until  to-mor 
row,"  I  explained  to  the  young  ladies,  as,  hat  in 
hand,  I  lingered  in  the  doorway  of  the  parlor ;  "  but  I 
could  not  wait,  and  came  to-day.  One  ought  not  to 
postpone  a  pain,  and  why  should  I  put  off  a  pleasure  ? 
I  am,  although  Northern  born  and  a  Uniou  man,  from 


NE  W-COMERS.  201 

a  questionable  part  of  the  country,  and  people  are  shy 
of  me ;  at  least,  I  know  very  few  of  them.  On  that 
account,  except  in  the  mornings,  I  have  more  time 
than  I  can  use.  Whenever  I  can  be  of  any  service, 
please  be  so  kind  as  to  command  me.  If  you  will  let 
me  speak  of  myself,  I  would  say  that  I  feel  old  enough 
to  be  your  grandfather,  Miss  Persis,  Miss  Rachel,  and 
young  enough  to  go  into  whatever  you  may  wish  me 
to  do,  as  if  we  had  come  here  from  Ocklawahaw  to 
gether  upon  a  picnic." 

I  think  that  we  had  at  least  begun,  when  I  left,  to 
be  good  friends. 

Within  a  week  after  my  first  call  upon  the  young 
ladies  I  met  Dr.  Trent  arid  his  wife  rambling  about 
with  their  children  in  a  gallery  of  art.  I  told  them 
of  my  visit,  and  of  how  much  interest  I  was  com 
ing  to  take  in  our  new  friends.  Mrs.  Trent  had  an 
hour's  worth  of  talk  with  me  about  them  then  and 
there. 

"  Steven's  care  for  them  will  begin  when  they  are 
taken  sick,"  she  laughed.  "  To  him  well  people  are 
the  most  stupid  of  mortals.  I  have  warned  them  not 
to  get  sick." 

"  There  is  not  a  healthier  city  than  this,"  I  sug 
gested.  "  In  comparison  to  Ocklawahaw,  low,  damp, 
with  its  malarial  river  bottoms  and  dense  forests,  it 
is  as  Paradise  for  pure  air ;  the  trouble  is  that  there 
is  too  much  oxygen  in  its  bracing  atmosphere,  it  is 
too  stimulating.  But  the  young  ladies  have  lived 
simple  lives,  have  laid  up  reserves  of  strength  not 
withstanding  some  severe  shakes  of  the  ague." 


202  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  It  is  that,"  Mrs.  Trent  remarked,  "  which  helped 
determine  them  to  come  East.  Would  you  believe 
it  ?  Persis  thinks  that  her  early  sickness  out  "West 
has  done  more  than  interrupt  her  studies.  She  has 
an  idea  that  it  has  weakened  her  intellect  almost. 
That  is  one  reason  which  urges  her  to  study ;  she  has 
to  make  up  for  lost  time,  has  to  restore  the  tone  of 
her  mind.  She  is  very  ambitious." 

"  I  saw  her  on  the  street  yesterday,"  Dr.  Trent  ob 
served.  "  It  was  where  the  crowd  of  cars,  wagons, 
carriages,  was  thickest.  She  was  waiting  her  oppor 
tunity  on  the  curbstone,  with  her  friend,  and  suddenly 
she  left  her  and  ventured  across.  It  was  a  risk, 
but  she  managed  it  very  well,  looking  up  street  and 
down  as  she  went,  darting  hither  and  thither  between 
the  vehicles.  When  she  reached  the  other  side  she 
beckoned  to  her  friend  in  triumph.  But  Miss  Each  el 
was  more  prudent ;  she  waited  deliberately  until  a 
policeman  had  halted  the  torrent  of  wheels,  and  then 
she  walked  across  as  slowly,  her  skirts  in  her  hands, 
as  if  she  were  attending  a  reception.  I  went  over  to 
admonish  Miss  Persis,"  Dr.  Trent  added,  "but  she 
laughed  at  me.  '  I  do  it  for  the  exercise,'  she  said. 
'  I  am  training  myself  in  athletics.  I  want  to  get 
strong  and  well  for  what  I  have  to  do.'  She  is  a 
bright  girl.  I  think  we  will  be  proud  of  her  some 
day.  But  she  must  not  overdo  it." 

"Kachel  told  me,"  the  Doctor's  wife  interposed, 
"  that  the  severest  exercise  she  took  was  to  go  into 
one  of  our  largest  and  finest  dry-goods  palaces,  and 
then  tear  herself  away  from  the  display,  which  must," 


NEW-COMERS.  203 

» 

Mrs.  Trent  added,  "be  something  wonderful  to  one 
who  has  not  seen  anything  of  the  kind  before.  Like 
every  genuine  woman,"  Mrs.  Trent  laughed,  "  she 
loves  such  things  dearly !  It  will  take  a  long  time 
to  become  .an  athlete  in  that.  Miss  Persis  is  eager 
to  learn.  When  she  is  not  studying  she  is  to  go  with 
me  to  every  art-gallery,  lecture,  reading,  concert,  she 
can.  It  is  part  of  her  education." 

"  I  hope  I  may  have  a  chance,"  I  said,  "  to  help 
you.  You  know  me  of  old,  madam.  One  man  finds 
his  pleasure  in  the  growth  of  a  new  variety  of  roses, 
in  producing  a  more  delicious  strawberry,  a  larger 
apple,  than  Horticultural  Fairs  have  ever  beheld. 
Some  men  have  a  passion  for  pug-dogs,  for  rearing 
swift  horses.  As  one  is  most  like  the  Creator  he  re 
gards  men  and  women  as  the  most  interesting  objects 
in  the  world.  If  these  two  country  lasses  had  been 
lads  instead,  we  would  have  been  interested,  under 
the  circumstances,  in  them;  but  girls  are  so  much 
more  flexible,  pliable,  you  know.  There  is  a  divine 
possibility  in  a  young  girl  which  one  does  not  look 
for  in  a  boy.  You  cannot  help  hoping  for  her  what 
a  music-master  does  for  the  girl  in  whom  he  sees  a 
possible  Jenny  Ljnd,  a  Grisi,  a  Mlsson, — a  something 
greater,  perhaps,  than  men  have  ever  known.  That 
is  the  interest  I  shall  come  to  take  in  our  new 
friends ;  who  knows  what  we  may  be  able  to  make 
them  ? " 

Mrs.  Trent  was  interested,  but  she  was  looking, 
while  I  spoke,  at  a  life-sized  painting  near  by  of  a 
Judith. 


204  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  Look  at  her,  Mr.  Guernsey,"  she  said.  "  See  how 
the  muscles  stand  out  in  the  delicate  arm  with  which 
she  holds  up  the  heavy  head  of  Holofernes.  It  is 
terrible,  her  face,  is  n't  it  ? " 

"  She  looks,"  I  said,  "  like  an  older  Miss  Persis." 

Dr.  Trent,  standing  by  us,  muttered  something  to 
himself  as  he  glanced  discontentedly  at  the  aspect  of 
the  bronzed  heroine. 

"  What  is  it,  Trent  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Your  Judith  had  better  look  out,"  he  growled, 
"that  she  does  not  play  the  devil  with  her  own 
head ! " 

"You  are  studying  too  hard,  man,"  I  exclaimed. 
"  What  can  you  mean  ?  You  are  growing  mor 
bid." 

"  Am  I  ?  Well,  perhaps  I  am,"  he  said.  But  Jean 
and  Guernsey,  worse  than  indifferent  to  paintings,  as 
children,  curiously  enough,  always  are,  bore  down 
upon  us  at  this  juncture.  They  were  hungry  and 
wanted  to  go  home.  Now  that  they  suggested  it,  we 
all  were,  and  went  away  together. 

"  Men  like  yourself,  with  large  heads  and  compara 
tively  small  bodies,"  Mrs.  Trent  remarked,  as  she 
pressed  upon  me  another  slice  of  beef  at  her  hospita 
ble  board  soon  after,  "  ought  to  see  to  it  that  the  rest 
of  the  body,  as  Steven  here  says,  keeps  abreast  of  the 
brain.  Electrical  people  cannot  eat  too  much  pud 
ding,"  she  further  suggested  at  that  stage  of  our 
repast. 

"  Meaning  me  ?  No,  madam,"  I  said.  "  I  am  the 
most  stupid  of  men ! "  For  I  was  trying  in  vain  to 


NEW-COMERS.  205 

puzzle  out  what  in  the  mischief  Trent  meant  by  his 
remark  about  Judith.  The  more  so  as  the  Doctor  is  a 
man  who,  from  long  accuracy  with  drugs  and  surgical 
instruments,  is  very  apt  to  mean  something  in  what 
he  says. 


206  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

WAR. 

"D  OSS  URWOLDT  went  into  the  war  in  his  way, 
-*-^-  and  I  went  into  it  in  mine.  He  raised  com 
pany  after  company,  contriving,  when  he  had  used  up 
one,  to  have  another  ready  for  the  slaughter.  No 
captain  on  that  side  fought  harder,  endured  more 
defeats,  won  more  victories.  After  a  while  he  found 
himself  a  colonel,  was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Pitts- 
burg  Landing,  was  captured,  made  his  escape,  fought 
again,  was  again  taken  prisoner  and  wounded  so 
severely  this  time  that  he  could  not  escape.  It  so 
chanced  —  but  not  at  all.  I  do  not  like  the  word  ! 
Let  us  adopt  the  divine  Hebraism  and  say,  It  came  to 
pass  that  my  work  had  taken  me  South  just  then 
with  my  medicine-chests,  boxes  of  books,  hampers  of 
clothing,  and  such  delicacies  as  convalescents  require. 
One  day,  as  I  limped  about  among  the  wounded  in  an 
extemporized  hospital,  I  saw  my  friend.  We  had  not 
met  more  than  once  or  twice  since  he  left  college, 
and  Ross  was  one  of  the  very  few  men  whom  to  know 
once  is  to  know  forever.  Drained  of  blood  as  he 
was,  I  recognized  him  at  sight.  The  great  battle  had 
been  fought  just  before;  the  surgeons  had  followed 
upon  it  with  their  passionless  fury,  so  to  speak,  of 
steel,  cold  and  swift,  and  the  place  was  like  a  butcher's 


WAR.  20? 

shambles.     Ross  was  lying  upon  a  pile  of  army  over 
coats  for  which  their  late  owners  had  now  no  longer 
any  use ;  many  of  these  last  stretched  out  here  and 
there,  quite  young,  most  of  them,  but  passed  into  a 
winter  where  neither  youth  nor  health,  thick  clothing 
nor  the  frenzy  of  fight,  would  avail  to  warm  them  any 
more  forever.     In  the  act  of  recognizing  Ross  I  knelt 
beside  him,  confident  that  he  was  one  of  these.     The 
college  stripling  was  grown  into  a  vigorous  manhood, 
not  large  but  sinewy,  not  robust  but  singularly  com 
pact  of  body.     His  hair  was  cut  close,  and  it  and  his 
mustache  were  of  a  deeper  black  because  of  the  pallor 
of  his  gaunt  face.     I  must  have  mentioned  it  before, 
it  was  such  a  characteristic  of  the  man,  but  he  had 
beyond  any  one  the  faculty  of  becoming  at  times 
stone-still.     I  dare  say  he  inherited  it  from  genera 
tions  of  ancestors  who  had  learned  to  become  like 
logs  or  rocks  for  stillness  when  lying  in  wait  for  game 
or  foe ;  but  Ross  became   absolutely  motionless    at 
those  times  when  other  men  are  most  agitated.     The 
sudden  peril,  the  instant  exasperation,  which  shook 
other  men  like  an  aspen  leaf,  or  hurled  them  about  in 
a  rage,  petrified  him  instead ;  he  became  silent,  intent, 
ready  to  put  forth  his  best  strength  in  the  moment 
and  manner  only  in  which  he  could  effect  most  there 
by.     It  was  so  with  him  in  lesser  things.     He  gave  a 
more  fixed  attention  to  a  friend  in  ordinary  conversa 
tion  than  was  common  ;  but  when  he  was  profoundly 
interested  he  fastened  his  black  eyes  upon  the  person 
speaking  with  a  certain  statue-like  intentness  which 
held  the  other  also  as  in  a  vise. 


208  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

It  was  so  now.  He  lay  so  still  that  I  was  sure  he 
must  be  dead.  It  was  only  exhaustion,  however,  for 
he  was  terribly  worn  also  from  a  forced  march  all 
night  before  the  battle.  He  had  fought,  too,  with  his 
usual  ferocity  till,  at  the  end  of  the  stubbornly  con 
tested  conflict,  he  had  fallen  badly  hurt.  Whenever 
he  slept  it  was  with  the  motionless  repose  of  an  image 
of  stone  or  iron  thrown  to  the  earth  from  its  pedestal, 
and  it  was  natural  it  should  be  so  now.  In  camp  he 
could  be  as  hard,  as  cruel,  as  any.  If  there  was  good 
to  come  of  it  to  the  cause  for  which  he  fought,  he 
could  lie  with  eyes  steadier  than  any  other,  could 
have  a  coward  drummed  out  of  his  regiment  as  coolly 
as  he  could  hang  a  weeping  and  shrieking  spy.  From 
exchanged  prisoners  I  had  learned  that,  while  other 
Confederate  officers  expended  their  wrath  upon  their 
own  panic-stricken  soldiers  in  oaths,  Ross  had 
stemmed  their  retreat  in  silence,  but  with  cold  lead 
and  dripping  sword,  colder  still.  Had  hate  and  rage, 
the  brute  fury  of  battle  and  the  intoxication  of  vic 
tory,  or  the  deeper  excitement  of  defeat,  —  had  these 
aroused  in  him  passions  baser  yet  ?  But  had  he 
ever  been  other  than  himself  ?  If  he  had  so  much  in 
him  of  the  native  savage,  I  was  enough  of  one  my 
self  to  like  him  all  the  more  that  he  was  a  variety 
upon  the  stereotyped  fashion  of  men,  that  he  was 
thoroughly  sincere  and  true  to  his  wild  and  sturdy 
self. 

I  did  not  disturb  him  at  first.  For  a  long  time  I 
sat  on  the  floor  by  his  side,  thanking  Heaven  that  the 
law  by  which  the  planets  roll  was  not  more  accurate 


WAR.  209 

than  that  which  had  seen  to  it  that  we  two  should 
come  thus  together  once  more.  They  used  to  tell  me 
that  my  severe  malady  had  overquickened  my  brain ; 
perhaps  it  may  have  caused  my  heart  to  beat  too  full 
and  too  fast ;  but  at  last,  and  as  there  was  no  woman 
there  to  do  it  for  me  and  to  do  it  better,  I  could  re 
frain  no  longer,  and  bent  over  and  kissed  him  upon 
the  bronze-like  forehead. 

What  windows  for  the  soul  the  eyes  are !  Eoss 
awoke  at  the  touch ;  awoke,  and  I  could  see  him,  in 
his  eyes,  coming  to  me, —  coming  to  me  through  all 
the  years  since  we  had  met  last ;  coming  to  me  through 
the  smoke,  since  the  war  began,  of  the  battles.  Yes, 
I  saw  him  coming  toward  me  in  his  eyes ;  coming  to 
me  through,  first,  the  haze  and  daze  of  weakness  and 
weariness,  through  the  momentary  bewilderment  as 
to  where  he  was,  through  the  fierceness  of  fight  flar 
ing  up  in  him;  coming  at  last  to  see  that  I  was 
Guernsey,  —  that  I  was  the  one  man  he  had  cared 
most  for.  What  followed  between  us  concerns  no 
one  but  ourselves.  This  only  I  will  say,  that  what 
came  after,  and  before  he  could  help  himself,  wTas  a 
revelation  to  him  far  more  of  himself  than  of  me. 

I  obtained  permission,  as  soon  as«I  could,  to  take 
him,  by  slow  stages,  away  with  me,  to  the  nearest  city 
in  the  South,  but  within  the  Federal  lines.  Securing 
comfortable  rooms  at  a  hotel  therein,  I  gave  up  every 
thing  else  and  nursed  him  until  he  recovered.  We 
could  not  be  always  playing  chess,  nor  could  I  always 
think  of  something  new  to  tell  him  concerning  Rachel 
and  Persis.  He  would  not  allow  me  to  mention  him, 

14 


210  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

in  my  letters  to  Dr.  Trent,  lest  they  should  know  of 
his  wounds ;  nor  did  he  ask  me  in  regard  to  the  young 
ladies,  not,  at  least,  after  his  first  inquiries.  I  was 
surprised  at  it.  I  did  not  know  he  had  hecome  so 
cold  and  hard.  I  was  disappointed  in  Eoss,  was 
indignant.  Afterward  I  came  to  know  him  better. 
The  fact  was,  that  he  had  come  to  care  for  nothing  in 
the  world  but  Persis  ;  but  he  was  by  no  means  certain 
concerning  her.  His  experiences  were  compelling 
him  toward  an  utter  distrust  of  everybody,  as  of 
everything.  Persis  was  little  more  than  a  mere 
country  girl  when  he  saw  her  last ;  he  dared  not  trust 
himself  to  what  she  might  come  to  be.  He  knew 
that  she  must  grow  into  a  woman  of  marked  character, 
but  of  what  character  ?  There  was  nothing  for  him 
in  the  future  but  Persis ;  meanwhile  he  must  wait. 
If  he  was  not  killed  in  battle,  he  would  some  day 
see  for  himself  who  and  what  she  was.  So  deeply 
did  he  feel,  that  he  was,  at  this  date,  afraid  to  ask 
me  about  her. 

"  I  believe  you  would  rather  not  hear  about  them," 
I  said  one  afternoon  when  he  turned  almost  impa 
tiently  away,  as  he  lay,  at  the  mention  of  Persis. 

"You  took  your  course,"  he  replied  irrelevantly, 
"under  stress  of  conscience;  with  me  it  was  con 
science  plus  circumstance." 

Had  I  understood  then,  I  would  have  known  that 
Persis  Paige  was  to  him  as  to  the  beggar  is  the  last 
coin  left  sewed  up  in  his  rags,  and  who  dares  not 
examine  the  coin,  not  knowing  whether  it  be  gold  or 
copper,  good  or  counterfeit ;  but  I  fell  into  his  mood. 


WAR.  211 

"There  was  no  merit  in  it,"  I  said.  "When  the 
war  began,  a  something  in  me  stronger  than  myself 
came  upon  me,  lifted  me,  powerless  to  desire  even  to 
resist,  off  my  island,  and  took  me  North.  As  a  tree 
is  torn  up,  so  this  something  tore  me  up  and  out  of 
my  soil,  roots  and  all.  Why  talk  about  it  ?  " 

"  That  is  it,"  Eoss  exclaimed.  "You  will  indulge 
your  imagination  as  to  this,  that,  and  the  other,  —  as 
to  phantasmal  somethings  apart  from  yourself.  You 
believe  in  a  silent  tornado  which  tore  you  up,  —  a 
tornado  riot  yourself,  yet  peculiar  to  yourself !  Now, 
I  do  not  believe  in  anything  apart  from  myself." 
He  was  lying  upon  a  lounge  which  I  had  drawn  into 
a  bay-window  looking  southward  over  the  suburbs  of 
the  city,  and  then  over  the  gardens,  orchards,  fields, 
and  so  toward  the  distant  hills.  We  were  very  quiet, 
for  the  war  had  rolled  far  down  toward  the  southeast, 
and  the  city  in  which  we  were  lay  like  a  bunch  of 
sea-weed,  no  longer  torn  and  tossed  by  the  ebbing  tide. 
Ross  had  regained  his  vigor  of  mind ;  but  a  shattered 
leg  was  very  slowly  recovering,  and  he  had  use  for 
his  faculty  of  holding  himself  still.  Now,  I  am  so 
constituted  that  I  cannot  have  motion  enough,  and  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  have  to  move  about  for  my 
friend  also. 

"  That  is  where  we  differ,"  he  persisted.  "  You  are 
mastered  by  ghosts,  I  am  not.  When  the  war  be 
gan  there  was  an  outside  pressure  upon  me  to  do  as  I 
did.  It  surrounded  me  on  every  side,  pressed  upon 
me  like  the  atmosphere.  What  did,  or  do,  I  care  ? 
In  this  world  one  thins  is  about  as  bad  as  another. 


212  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

I  did  the  easiest  thing  to  do,  I  yielded  to  the  pres 
sure.  If  I  had  cared  to  fight  it,  I  could  have  done 
so,  —  the  fiercer  for  the  pressure.  But  I  don't  care. 
"Why  should  I  ?  You  have  your  baggage  of  princi 
ples,  theories, —  you  thought  so  and  so,  didn't  be- 
lieve  in  slavery,  did  believe  in  one  great  republic,  and 
so  on,  and  so  on.  I  am  as  naked  of  such  things 
as  a  Comanche.  I  am  simple,  unencumbered,  move 
straight  forward.  I  found  myself  in  the  war.  Very 
good.  There  I  was.  I  raised  men  for  it,  marched, 
lay  down  at  night,  and  slept.  When  morning  came, 
there  was  breakfast  to  cook  and  eat.  I  ate  with  ap 
petite,  drank,  marched,  camped,  encouraged  the  men. 
When  a  good  joke  came  up,  I  laughed  at  it ;  when  a 
bridge  was  to  be  built,  a  railroad  to  be  torn  up,  I  did 
that.  When  a  fight  was  on  hand,  I  fought.  Do  you 
understand  ?  Why  should  I  stop  to  argue  ?  I  stick 
to  nature ;  what  else  do  we  know  ?  The  more  I  am 
like  a  mere  part  of  nature,  like  a  river,  a  bird,  a  buf 
falo,  a  cinnamon  bear,  the  easier  everything  is.  Why 
should  I  bother  myself  ?  Whatever  lies  nearest,  that 
I  do.  Whatever  is  to  be  done,  at  that  I  go,  with  all 
the  force  I  have,  until  I  break  or  am  broken,  till  I 
wear  out,  till  I  die  and  there  is  an  end  of  me  !  You 
will  make  me  talk.  Nobody  else  can  do  it ;  and  I 
have  nothing  to  do  until  I  get  well.  As  of  this  war, 
so  is  it  of  everything  else  in  this  infernal  world. 
The  one  thing  I  am  glad  of  is  that  there  is  no  other ! 
Csesar  told  the  Senate,  you  remember,  that  to  believe 


a  man  lived  after  death  was  all  nonsense :  the  thing 


to  do  was  to  take  this  bit  of  life  as  it  is,  enjoy  your- 


: 


WAR.  213 

self,  lay  on  with  all  your  might,  if  that  is  the  thing 
in  hand,  then  die  and  be  as  dead  —  although  he  did 
not  say  that  —  as  Julius  Caesar  !  Cicero  was  one  of 
your  philosophers ;  but,  you  remember,  he  sprang  to 
his  feet  when  Caesar  sat  down,  and  said  that  Ca3sar 
was  right." 

He  had  spoken  more  to  himself  than  to  me,  with 
his  face  to  the  wall  as  he  lay.  I  made  no  reply.  A 
rooster  crowed,  a  clock  struck.  After  a  while  a  brass 
band  went  by  in  full  blast.  They  were  playing  "  Hail 
Columbia,"  with  the  breath  of  battle  in  their  horns  ; 
the  drummers  were  whacking  at  rebels  rather  than 
sheepskins  ;  there  was  a  sudden  uproar  of  cheers,  then 
the  bells  began  to  ring.  It  was  plain  that  rumors  of 
a  victory  somewhere  had  arrived ;  yet  I  am  sure  that 
Ross  cared  little  more  for  it  than  he  did  for  the  buzz 
ing  of  flies  on  the  upper  panes  of  the  window  at  which 
he  was  lying.  But  it  proved  to  me  how  dissatisfied 
he  was  with  his  own  conclusions ;  for,  after  a  long 
silence,  he  contrived  to  roll  himself  over,  and  looked 
at  me  as  I  sat. 

"Why,  Guernsey,  will  you  indulge  yourself,"  he 
demanded,  "  in  lies  ? "  He  had  seized  upon  me,  lying 
motionless  as  he  did  so,  with  his  strong  black  eyes 
as  with  the  hands  of  a  powerful,  but  drowning  man, 
They  were  such  famishing  eyes,  too,  that  the  tears 
would  have  come  to  my  own  but  that  I  thought  it 
best  to  look  down  at  him  and  laugh  instead,  as  at  a 
friend  who  must  be  humored,  seeing  that  he  is  sick 
arid  not  himself. 

"  Mine  are  the  only  certainties,"  I  said,  "  and  you 


214  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

know  it.  You  are  passing,  now  as  every  day,  through 
the  gymnasium  which  fits  you  for  your  eternal  exist 
ence  after  this  little  bug-like  life  is  ended.  There  is 
no  endurance  apart  from  that,  no  happiness.  It  is 
the  only  thing  which  assures  you  that  you  are  not 
altogether  a  bug.  Listen,  old  fellow ! " 

I  think  there  was  something  in  my  face  which  held 
him  to  me  as  I  said  it,  and  I  talked  away  at  a  great 
rate.  A  man  knows  when  he  is  dealing  in  facts !  It 
was  wine  I  was  pouring  out  to  the  weak,  and  the 
aroma  was  in  it,  not  in  me.  However  small  a  win 
dow  may  be,  however  dusty  its  half-washed  panes,  it 
knows  when  the  sun  is  shining  through  it.  For  the 
moment  I  thought  I  could  see  its  light  lying  upon 
the  cold  face  of  my  friend,  but  I  was  careful  to  say 
too  little  rather  than  too  much. 

"It  is  little  I  know  of  the  One  who  rules  the 
world,"  1  said,  "  but  among  my  surest  certainties  in 
regard  to  him  is  this,  that  he  is  mathematically  accu 
rate  in  his  dealings,  unswervingly  precise  in  regard  to 
nations  as  to  planets,  unlimitedly  just  to  the  race  as 
to  the  individual.  From  the  beginning  so  far  he  has 
always  compelled  things  from  the  lower  to  the  higher, 
and  I  have,  can  have,  no  shadow  of  a  doubt  as  to  the 
result  of  this  war  ! "  But  it  was  not  in  good  taste  for 
me  to  be  as  exultant  as  I  was. 

"  flic  certainty  to  which  I  have  come,"  Eoss  groaned, 
"is  that  men  are  invariably  knaves  or  fools." 

"  But  the  King  is  strong  enough,"  I  said,  "  to  con 
trol  even  fools  and  knaves  to  his  own  ends  ! "  And 
there  the  topic  dropped  from  between  us. 


WAR.  215 

It  was  easy  to  see  that  the  fierceness  of  his  fight 
had  not  been  with  the  Federals  only  ;  but  why  should 
we  talk  about  men,  whether  in  gray  or  in  blue,  at 
all? 

"  Of  all  living  creatures,"  I  said  to  him  at  the  end, 
"  I  suppose  the  cuttle-fish  is  the  most  horrible.  And 
yet  every  red  fang  of  its  diabolical  jaws,  every  lens 
of  its  goggle  eyes,  every  peculiarity  of  its  swarming 
and  snake-like  arms,  is  constructed  with  a  wisdom  as 
wonderful,  as  that  which  gives  the  colors  of  the  rain 
bow  to  the  harmless  dolphin.  I  do  not  know  what 
it  was  made  for,  but  I  do  know  that  it  is  as  essen 
tial  to  whatever  the  purposes  of  its  creation  are,  as 
Shakespeare  is  to  his." 

"  So  of  this  war  ?  "  asked  Eoss. 

"  So  of  this  abominable  war,"  I  assented.  "  There 
have  been  worse  ones  in  history,  but,  like  every 
other,  this,  also,  is  essential  to  the  final  results.  Every 
man  will  receive  his  own  results  in  himself;  but, 
thank  God,  my  faith  is  not  based  upon  the  whirlwind 
of  miserable  men,  but  in  the  Person  who  makes  and 
knows,  loves  and  manages,  them  all.  Down  with  the 
prince  of  doubt  and  of  darkness !  Ave  Optimus  Au 
gustus,  Imperator  I " 

"  I  care  little  for  your  theories,"  Ross  replied.  "  I 
confess  that  I  wish  I  could  be  as  serene  and  happy 
as  you  are.  It  lifts  and  rests  me  merely  to  look  at 
you." 

Let  me  say  here  that  Eoss  Urwoldt  was  afterward 
one  of  the  best  known  of  public  men.  As  such  he 
mingled  among  men  of  all  sorts.  So  far  as  he  could 


216  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

accustom  himself  to  do  so,  he  associated  with  them 
on  equal  terms,  —  laughing,  talking,  suggesting  and 
receiving  suggestions,  saying  vigorous  things  and  hav 
ing  to  endure  energetic  replies,  outwardly  the  most 
affable  —  so  far  as  he  could  compel  himself  to  be  — 
and  practical  of  men.  When  he  got  inside  my  door, 
it  was  as  when  a  man  pulls  off  a  mud-bespattered 
overcoat,  kicks  off  dirty  boots,  and  takes  his  ease  in 
dressing-gown  and  slippers.  What  he  tried  at  such 
times  to  hide  from  me  was  merely  what  he  tried  to 
hide  from  himself.  But,  bless  me  !  what  good  did  it 
do  ?  He  may  have  known  me  better  than  I  knew 
myself.  I  certainly  knew  Eoss  as  I  hardly  think 
even  Persis,  not  to  speak  of  Eachel,  ever  came  to 
know  him.  I  knew  him  at  his  best,  but  it  was  be 
cause  I  knew  him  at  his  worst  that  I  loved  and  took 
most  interest  in  him. 

That  was  the  way  in  which,  one  afternoon  during 
his  long  confinement,  he  came  to  talk  to  me  about 
his  mother.  He  would  not  have  done  it  had  he  not 
been  enfeebled  by  having  me  with  him  ;  that  under 
mined  him,  I  think,  more  than  his  wounds. 

"You  have  no  idea,  Guernsey,"  he  said  at  last, 
"what  a  woman  my  mother  once  was.  The  first 
memory  I  have  of  anything  is  of  her.  She  nursed 
me  through  the  small-pox  when  I  was  a  baby,  and 
my  first  recollection  is  of  looking  down  at  her  one 
day,  when  I  was  getting  well,  as  she  held  me  with  her 
strong  arms  high  in  the  air  above  her  head.  All  the 
other  children  had  died ;  I  was  the  last  that  was  left 
her.  She  was  almost  worn  to  death  herself,  but  she 


WAR.  217 

had  saved  me  as  from  the  very  grave,  and  I  have  an 
idea  now  that  she  was  holding  me  up,  giving  me  to 
God,  or  something  of  the  kind.  Yes,"  he  added  in 
softer  tones,  "  I  remember  it  perfectly.  I  can  look 
down  now,  as  I  hang  suspended  in  her  lifted  hands, 
and  see  her  head  thrown  back,  her  hollow  cheeks,  her 
black  and  eager  eyes  !  She  had  everything  then  and 
after  that  to  bow  her  to  the  earth,  to  break  her  spirit, 
and  she  would  neglect  her  dress,  her  appearance. 
But  once  or  twice,  when  I  was  not  much  more  than 
a  child,  I  have  seen  her  angry.  How  erect  she  be 
came,  how  her  eyes  flashed  !  When  I  brought  home 
on  my  mare,  before  me,  the  first  deer  I  had  shot,  how 
well  I  remember  her !  I  had  ridden  up  to  the  door, 
and,  before  I  could  get  off,  my  mother  ran  out  of  the 
house  like  a  girl,  her  long  hair  down  her  back,  her 
cheeks  as  red  as  a  rose,  her  eyes  so  full  of  love  and 
pride —  Guernsey,"  Ross  added,  "I  can  see,  as  I 
tell  you  of  it,  the  very  whiteness  of  her  teeth  as  she 
laughed,  —  she  had  beautiful  teeth!  1  do  not  know 
how  she  managed  it,  but  she  fairly  lifted  me  out  of 
my  saddle,  held  me  up,  kissed  me,  and  then  she  put 
me  down  all  at  once,  turned  pale,  shrunk  from  me  as 
if  she  had  thought  of  something,  was  suddenly  afraid. 
I  understood  afterward  what  that  meant ! 

"  It  makes  a  fool  of  me  to  be  with  you,"  he  added 
almost  impatiently.  "  What  I  intended  to  tell  you  is 
this.  We  did  not  say  as  much  to  each  other  as  is 
common  to  mother  and  son  elsewhere,  it  isn't  our 
nature  to  talk  much ;  in  fact,  the  more  we  feel  the 
less  we  talk.  I  used  to  think  my  mother  was  the 


218  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

best  woman  in  the  world,  fit  to  be  a  queen.  I  wish 
now  I  had  told  her  so !  What  I  am  coming  at  is 
that  I  hated  to  have  her  marry  anybody.  But,  of  all 
men  living,  I  despised  Amasa  Clarke  most.  That  she 
should  marry  him  was  the  hardest  blow  I  ever  had. 
About  a  year  after  the  war  began  I  was  sent  back  to 
Ocklawahaw  to  beat  up  recruits.  I  had  to  see  her. 
Guernsey,"  he  said,  "  I  used  to  worship  my  mother, 
but  I  never  want  to  see  her  again  ! "  Had  I  known 
it,  he  had  ceased,  as  he  spoke,  to  think  of  his  mother ; 
he  was  thinking  of  Persis  instead,  but  of  Persis  Paige 
dragged  down  with  the  rest  of  her  sex  into  what  he 
regarded  as  the  downfall  of  his  own  foolish  delusion 
of  what  a  woman  might  be. 

After  that  he  went  on  to  tell  me  of  some  of  the 
uncleanness  and  of  the  atrocities  common  to  both  ar 
mies.  He  did  not  seem  to  care  in  regard  to  it  him 
self,  and  I  am  sure  he  enjoyed  shockfng  me,  as  he 
assuredly  did.  But  what  would  I  have  ?  It  was  the 
downright  devil  in  Koss  which  made  me  try  to  hold 
on  to  him  the  harder.  And  I  wanted  to  save  Koss 
Urwoldt;  I  had  a  strong  purpose  to  save  him  if  I 
could,  because,  of  all  the  men  I  knew,  he  seemed  to 
me  to  be  the  man  best  worth  saving. 

As  is  the  case  with  everything,  whether  it  be  a 
tree,  a  lion,  or  a  man,  which  possesses  a  natural  and 
therefore  perfect  health,  my  friend  recovered  almost 
as  rapidly  from  his  wounds  as  Homer  describes  of 
the  stricken  Mars. 

Upon  the  afternoon  before  we  parted  we  were 
seated  together  for  the  last  time  in  the  bay-window 


WAR.  219 

of  which  I  have  spoken.  Eoss,  now  entirely  re 
stored,  except  that  he  was  somewhat  paler  and  thin 
ner  than  was,  I  suppose,  usual  with  him,  had  been 
looking  out  upon  the  landscape  for  a  long  time,  smok 
ing  his  cigar  in  silence.  His  father  was,  as  has  been 
said,  in  his  younger  days  at  least,  a  poet  and  a  painter, 
and  he  -  asserted  himself  now,  so  I  fancy,  in  his 
son,  taking  advantage  of  the  mood  of  Ross  as  another 
father  had  of  the  midnight  leisure  of  Hamlet.  In 
a  word,  this  Confederate  colonel  from  Ocklawahaw 
yielded  for  the  instant  to  the  sentimental,  which  gen 
erally  he  despised. 

"  It  has  been  a  great  contrast,"  he  said, — "  the  life  I 
have  led  of  late  to  what  went  before;  after  such 
experiences  of  swamp  and  struggle,  of  the  worst  sort 
of  moral  mud  and  all  kinds  of  murder  and  brutality, 
to  be  here,  and  with  you,  Guernsey.  But  the  other 
is  the  rule ;  this  is  the  brief  exception.  I  have  got 
up  here  out  of  this  horrible  war  but  for  a  moment ; 
to-morrow  I  plunge  into  it  again,  and  deeper  than 
ever,  for  who  can  say  how  long  ? " 

Very  rarely  did  he  speak  thus,  even  to  me.  I  said 
nothing  in  order  that  he  might  say  more. 

"  Not  that  it  is  all  bad  in  camp,"  he  corrected  him 
self.  "  In  our  army,  as  in  yours,  some  of  the  hardest 
cases  show,  when  the  time  comes,  a  courage,  head 
long  yet  cool,  which  Murat  would  have  envied.  Bet 
ter  still,  I  have  seen  in  many  of  our  worst  fellows  a 
patience,  endurance,  self-sacrificing  devotion,  equal  to 
what  one  reads  of  Christian  martyrs.  Guernsey,"  he 
added,  "  I  have  often  wondered,  even  in  the  heat  of 


220  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

battle,  at  the  joyous  disdain  of  themselves  with  which 
my  men  dashed  into  certain  death.  A  man  tosses 
away  his  life  then  as  coolly  as  if  it  were  a  squeezed 
lemon,  does  it  rejoicingly.  It  proves  what  a  little 
thing  life  is.  It  is  all  a  man  has,"  and  he  tossed  the 
end  of  his  smoked-out  cigar  through  the  open  window, 
"  but  it  is  such  a  miserably  small  thing  at  last." 

It  was  because  he  was  so  free  from  all  humbug 
that  I  respected  even  his  self-contempt.  "  Is  it  not 
queer,"  he  went  on,  "  that  a  man  cannot  get  used  to 
the  low  and  rascally  course  of  things  ?  The  discon 
tent  at  it,  the  loathing  of  it,  —  is  not  that  the  oddest 
thing  of  all  ?  A  snake,  an  alligator,  might  as  reason 
ably  object  to  the  stagnant  pool  in  which,  like  its 
ancestors,  it  has  always  lived,  always  will  live.  But 
there  is  another  thing  which  astonishes  me  yet  more. 
Fancy  an  eel  or  an  alligator  passing  its  time  in  im 
agining  itself  to  have  a  soul,  a  Creator,  and  all  that, 
making  its  dirty  pool  ten  times  dirtier,  its  vermin 
estate  a  hundred  times  more  offensive  to  it,  by  such 
contrast  and  contradiction !  Why  will  you  imagine 
such  diabolical  nonsense  ? " 

It  was  said  angrily,  for  what  he  put  into  words  was 
but  a  small  part  of  what  he  thought.  Very  little  did 
I  argue  with  him ;  it  was  with  himself  the  fury  of 
the  argument  lay. 

"  You  talk  about  a  God  and  a  hereafter !  What  do 
you  get  out  of  it  all  ?  Nothing  but  what  you  have 
first  put  in,  and  you  know  it ! " 

"  What  I  see,  hear,  taste,  feel,  smell,  that  is  all  I 
believe  in!  Certainly!"  I  mimickecL  my  friend's 


WAR.  221 

tone  as  well  as  his  frequent  assertion.  "  Ross,"  I 
added,  "  do  you  suppose  even  an  eagle  ever  saw  a 
flower  or  a  star  ?  Does  an  elephant  admire  a  laud- 
scape  lying  in  full  view  before  it  ?  What  do  you 
suppose  a  lion  cares  for  a  sunrise,  a  sunset  ?  except 
to  slake  its  thirst,  what  does  it  care  for  the  cataract 
which  thunders  to  its  very  paws  ?  We  see  things 
which  these  cannot,  because  we  are  more  than  these. 
Now  —  " 

"  I  am  speaking  of  spiritual  things,  things  you  do 
not  see  !  Don't  let 's  discuss  it,  Guernsey.  I  'm  glad 
I  go  to-morrow.  For  myself,"  and  he  stood  up  erect 
and  vigorous,  "  I  deliberately  prefer  to  be  merely 
what  I  am,  —  an  animal,  one  of  the  finest  animals  liv 
ing,  if  you  say  so,  but  an  animal  only.  I  want  no 
more.  I  would  n't  be  any  more  if  I  could.  I  am  sat 
isfied  to  live,  to  die  such,  as  fifty  generations  of  my 
fathers  have  done  before  me." 

A  new  idea  smote  me  as  I  considered  the  face  and 
bearing  of  my  friend.  A  man  can  extinguish  his  in 
tellect  by  drinking  alcohol  enough.  Nero  is  not  the 
only  man  who  has  rid  himself  of  his  heart.  There 
are  dozens  of  people  a  day  who,  with  rope  or  razor, 
free  themselves  of  their  bodies  as  easily  as  one  does 
of  a  nail-paring.  We  are  free  agents,  frightfully  free. 
Who  knows  but  a  man  can  rid  himself  of  his  soul 
also  ?  It  was  a  foolish  notion,  but,  as  I  looked  Ross 
full  in  the  face,  he  was  so  sincere  in  what  he  said, 
that  I  had  no  more  to  say  to  him  upon  the  subject 
than  if  he  was,  as  I  have  already  said,  a  leopard  or  a 
lion.  But,  being  a  man  and  not  a  brute,  I  know 


222  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

myself  to  be  the  master  where  the  finest  animal  on 
earth  is  concerned,  and  how  could  I  help  the  silent 
exultation  of  face  which  goes  with  such  a  certainty  ? 
Eoss  was  conscious  of  this  in  me,  and  resented  it. 
Yet  why  should  I  say  anything  ?  His  quarrel  was 
not  with  me,  it  was  with  himself. 

He  had  already  arranged  his  exchange,  and  the 
next  day  he  was  gone,  to  plunge,  as  I  was  soon  to 
learn,  into  the  thick  of  the  fight  again.  From  the 
first,  I  had  not  said  a  word  to  prevent,  it  was  so  evi 
dent  that  he  had  rather  go  South  and  fight  than  stay 
with  me  and  argue. 


GROWTH.  223 


CHAPTEE  XIX. 

GROWTH. 

IT  was  impossible  for  me  not  to  like  Persis  and 
Eachel  more  as  the  days  wore  on.  I  was  such  a 
stranger  to  the  city  that  I  was  glad  enough  to  add 
these  girls  to  the  home  I  had  made  for  myself  in 
the  society  of  Dr.  Trent  and  his  household.  Of 
course  I  was  selfish  in  the  matter.  The  admiration 
one  has  for  a  landscape  is  but  an  expansion  of  the 
pleasure  he  has  in  the  trees  and  grass  of  his  own 
yard,  and  I  am  quite  sure  that  I  admire  a  wheat- 
field  more  for  the  solid  satisfaction  which  I  get  out  of 
a  loaf  of  bread.  Especially  was  this  a  reason  for  the 
growing  interest  I  took  in  Persis.  She  had,  from 
her  first  coming,  an  eagerness  to  know  all  she  could 
about  the  city  and  region  in  which  she  found  herself, 
and  who  could  tell  her  more  about  it  than  I  ?  Her 
eagerness  awoke  within  me  again  that  which  I  too 
had  felt  on  my  first  coming  there,  and  I  enjoyed 
everything  over  again,  renewed  and  redoubled,  in 
going  about  with  Rachel  and  herself.  Although  but 
a  dozen  years  older  than  they,  I  was  as  a  father  who 
lives  his  childish  pleasures  over  once  more  in  the 
companionship  of  his  children. 
"Wliile  I  had  a  very  wide  acquaintance  with  men 


224  BLESSED  SATNT  CERTAINTY. 

and  women  in  audiences  when  I  lectured,  in  hospitals 
where  I  served ;  while  I  was  not  without  a  sense  of 
the  friendship  between  a  wide  circle  of  readers  and 
myself,  —  my  personal  relations  were  with  so  very 
few,  that  I  could  not  help  studying  these  two  when  I 
was  with  them  as  closely  as  it  was  unconsciously.  To 
me  they  were  new  types  of  their  sex,  also,  and  wholly 
unlike  each  other.  In  her  more  silent  way  Rachel 
was  glad  of  her  new  world,  but  she  allowed  Persis 
to  say  almost  everything  for  both.  The  only  thing 
which  seemed  to  elate  her  was  the  enthusiasm  of 
Persis.  More  than  once,  when  Persis  was  prevented 
by  her  studies  from  going  with  us  to  see  pictures,  or 
to  concert  and  theatre,  Rachel  sat  by  my  side,  happy 
but  quiet ;  yet,  when  Persis  was  there  too,  the  very 
happiness  of  her  friend  gave  a  new  glow  to  her  cheek, 
a  brighter  light  to  her  placid  eyes ;  she  had  more  to 
say,  smiled  more,  was  so  much  the  prettier  in  her 
simple  toilet,  because  Persis,  the  more  demonstrative 
of  the  two,  was  with  us. 

Not  that  Rachel  did  not  have  decided  likes  and 
dislikes  of  her  own.  Where  books  and  authors,  for 
instance,  were  concerned,  she  did  not  always  agree 
with  Persis  and  myself. 

"  The  thing  I  have  looked  forward  to,"  Persis  told 
me  soon  after  coming,  "  next,  that  is,  to  my  studies, 
is  to  knowing  the  men  and  women  who  wrote  the 
books  I  like  best.  I  have  read  some  books,"  and  she 
mentioned  them,  "  over  so  often  that  I  almost  know 
them  by  heart.  You  have  taken  us  to  see  the  monu 
ments,  parks,  public  libraries ;  please,  Mr.  Guernsey, 


GROWTH.  225 

can't  you  arrange  it  so  that  we  can  make  the  ac 
quaintance  of  —  "  And  she  mentioned  hesitatingly 
the  names  of  several  authors  of  note  who  lived  in 
or  near  the  city.  "  We  would  rather  see  them  than 
anything  else,  would  n't  we,  Eachel  ? " 

I  cannot  conceive  why  it  is,  but  sincerely  as  I 
admire  distinguished  people,  I  have  an  aversion  to 
attendance  upon  them.  From  the  day  almost  of  her 
coining  Persis  alluded  to  her  wish  ;  it  so  chanced  that 
I  was  the  only  person  at  that  period  who  could  gratify 
her,  and,  sorely  against  the  grain,  I  arranged  at  last 
to  do  so,  Mrs.  Trent  abetting  me. 

One  day,  within  the  first  few  months  of  their 
arrival,  I  called  in  a  carriage  at  the  house  of  the 
young  ladies,  by  appointment,  to  take  them  to  see  a 
celebrated  authoress.  Eachel  declined  to  go.  At  the 
moment  she  had  something  in  hand  —  a  music-lesson, 
I  think  it  was,  —  which  interested  her  more,  but  her 
friend  was  delighted  at  the  opportunity. 

"  I  would  rather  see  her  than  Victoria,"  she  said  as 
we  went ;  and  I  noticed  that,  so  far  as  her  wardrobe 
allowed,  she  was  arrayed  as  if  she  was  going  to  Court. 
For  which  reason  I  could  not  understand  why  Persis 
was  so  silent  when,  after  what  seemed  to  me  a  very 
pleasant  visit,  we  rode  back.  No  lady  could  have 
been  more  affable  than  the  one  upon  whom  we  had 
called,  but  my  companion  seemed  almost  ashamed  of 
herself  for  taking  me  there. 

It  was  cruel  in  me  to  do  it;  but,  when  science 
demands,  even  vivisection  is  a  virtue.  "  Lady  teach 
ers,"  I  reflected  aloud,  "  cannot,  I  am  told,  endure  to 

15 


226  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

have  a  lady  principal  over  them.  How  strange  ! 
Ladies  prefer  to  do  their  shopping  with  masculine 
clerks  behind  the  counter.  It  is  very  singular ! " 

"  Women  can  write,"  Persis  fired  up,  "  as  well  as 
men.  Some  day  they  will  do  almost  everything  as 
well  as  men,  perhaps  better ! "  She  made  it  as  an 
assertion,  but  her  troubled  eyes  fluttered  about  mine, 
making  it  an  interrogation  rather. 

"  I  sincerely  hope  so !  Men,"  I  replied,  "  have 
made  a  horrible  bungle  of  it  for  sixty  centuries. 
Who  knows  but  that  woman  is  to  take  the  world  out 
of  men's  miserable  hands  and  complete  things  ? " 
But  my  companion  watched  me  so  closely  to  see  if  I 
was  not  laughing,  that  I  could  not  keep  from  doing 
so. 

"  Men  always  joke  when  a  woman  is  concerned  !" 

She  said  it  in  such  a  manner  that  I  could  not  help 
replying,  with  the  accents,  and,  as  far  as  I  could,  the 
eyes  of  a  grandfather,  "  What  do  you  care,  my  dear 
Miss  Persis,  for  such  things  ? "  For  she  was  so  young, 
had  been  shut  out  so  completely  from  the  world ! 
Moreover,  she  was  giving,  of  late,  promise  of  becom 
ing  so  pretty,  perhaps  beautiful.  "  It  amazes  me,"  I 
continued  to  meditate  aloud,  "how  swiftly  an  idea 
becomes  universal.  Here  is  this  question  of  what 
women  may  yet  be  and  do.  The  time  was  when 
chivalry  had  no  more  existence  than  telegrams  or 
steamships.  Queens  of  beauty,  knightly  devotion  to 
woman,  —  do  you  know,  Miss  Persis,  that  the  entire 
sex  was  elevated  with  the  Virgin  Mary  ?  There  is 
more  in  it  than  there  was  in  the  worship  of  the 


GROWTH.  227 

Virgin,  or  woman  would  not  hold  her  throne  while 
the  worship  of  the  Virgin  is  perishing  from  Christen 
dom.  The  position  of  man  has  always  been  a  some 
thing  clearly  defined ;  but  of  woman  ?  Somehow,  as 
for  ages  past,  so  now,  she  is  still  upon  the  stairway  of 
unceasing  ascent.  Don't  you  see  it,  Miss  Persis  ?  If 
you  and  your  sex  are  not  to  slip  off  the  steps  and 
back  into  something  lower,  you  must  go  on  climbing, 
you  must  come  to  be  something  more  than  you  are ! 
I  believe  with  all  my  soul  in  the  new  chivalry  to 
ward  woman;  my  trouble  is  that  I  do  not  wholly 
understand  anything  about  it  except  this  :  heretofore 
woman  has  been  lifted  by  the  hands  of  men,  here 
after  she  is  to  lift  herself.  I  accept  it  in  advance. 

0  queen,  live  forever  ! " 

My  companion  had  forgotten  her  authoress.  It 
was  very  flattering  to  me  that  her  eyes  —  a  slight 
suspicion  still  about  her  lips  —  were  drinking  in  what 

1  said,  and  growing  brighter  as  they  did  so. 

"  People  do  have  a  new  idea,  then,  of  what  we  can 
do  ?  I  hoped  so,"  she  said,  "  but  I  was  not  certain." 

"  Certainly  ! "  I  assumed  the  prophet  in  addition  to 
the  grandfather.  "  There  is  a  new  conception  coming 
in  of  what  your  sex  can  be  and  do,  must  and  will 
do  and  be,  which  is  swelling  so  much  like  an  ocean 
tide  along  the  entire  coast,  that  I  can  no  more  measure 
than  I  can  understand  it.  Whatever  you  or  I  or 
anybody  may  think  or  say,  Miss  Persis,  it  is  rolling 
in  all  the  same.  But  that  you  should  know  of,  or 
care  for  it  —  " 

"  Because  I  was  in  Ocklawahaw  ? "  she  demanded 


228  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

modestly  enough ;  but  she  was  not  afraid  of  me,  ven 
erable  as  I  was.     "  We  had  books,  we  read,  we  —  " 
"  Does  Miss  Rachel  care  for  such  things  ? " 

o 

It  was  an  impolite  interruption.  If  the  face  of  my 
companion  fell,  it  was  but  for  the  moment.  "  Each  el," 
she  said  a  little  defiantly,  "  is  the  sweetest,  most  sen 
sible  girl  alive,  but  she  cares  more  for  —  other  things." 
And  I  could  see  that  her  friend  had  very  likely 
laughed  at  Persis  about  it.  And  then,  by  some  odd 
association  of  ideas,  Persis  added,  "That  is  because 
Eachel  had  such  a  father."  And  she  went  on  to  tell 
me,  knowing  that  Ross  must  have  already  informed 
me  of  it,  the  whole  story  of  the  drunken  statesman, 
and  how  he  had  been  for  so  long  like  a  big  baby  in 
the  hands  of  his  daughter. 

I  had  observed  long  before  that  if  I  wanted  to  make 
Rachel  talk,  I  had  but  to  mention  Persis ;  and  now, 
with  the  devotion  of  Rachel  as  a  topic,  I  had  never 
known  Persis  to  converse  so  eloquently. 

I  cannot  give  date  or  circumstance  to  my  association 
with  these  girls.  My  life  was  a  very  irregular  and 
uncertain  one  during  the  war.  I  almost  lived  on  the 
railroad,  coming  and  going  thousands  of  miles,  North 
or  South,  East  or  West.  It  was  a  hard,  and  often,  if 
I  had  yielded  to  it,  a  most  trying  and  unpleasant  life. 
One  is  hurled  about,  at  such  periods,  almost  as  if  he 
were  a  dice.  Mine  was  a  mission  of  mercy,  and  I 
went  rapidly  in  this  direction  and  that,  having  al 
most  as  little  to  do  with  the  sending  of  myself  as  if  I 
were  a  carrier-pigeon.  On  which  account  I  was  very 
glad  when  I  could  rest  for  a  while  in  the  house  of 


GROWTH.  229 

Dr.  Trent,  and  in  the  companionship  of  the  young 
ladies. 

It  was  not  often  that  we  spoke  of  the  war  then 
raging.  Living  as  they  had  done  for  so  long  in  the 
Eeservation,  neither  Persis  nor  Rachel  had  grown  up 
with  deep  convictions  as  to  North  or  South.  Parson 
Williams  was  no  politician.  I  doubt  if  Ross  had  ever 
spoken  to  them  on  the  subject.  Rachel  was  deeply 
anxious  in  regard  to  her  father ;  but  to  that  she  had 
been  accustomed  since  she  could  remember.  Know 
ing  him  to  be  opposed  to  secession,  although  in  the 
South,  it  was  not  unnatural  that  she  should  share  his 
views.  But  to  be  calm,  to  await  the  inevitable,  to 
endure  without  unnecessary  worry,  —  this  had  be 
come  her  nature. 

As  to  Persis,  it  was  different.  For  quite  a  while 
after  her  arrival  she  could  be  as  enthusiastic  as  any 
one  for  the  old  flag,  where  it  was  spoken  of  in  general; 
but  people  learned  not  to  stir  up  either  Rachel  or 
herself  by  too  much  mention  of  the  iniquity  of  the 
South.  That  Persis  was  intensely  anxious  for  news 
from  Ross,  I  knew  very  well  It  was  an  additional 
motive  with  her  to  hard  study,  that  she  could  thus 
divert  her  mind  from  his  perpetual  danger ;  but  no 
one  was  more  eager  to  know  the  latest  news  from  the 
war  than  herself. 

Dr.  Trent  and  his  wife,  beginning  with  mere  in 
terest  in  them,  grew  into  esteeming  and  loving  them 
exceedingly,  doing  all  they  could  to  make  them  happy. 
Persis  did  not  care  to  talk  about  Ross,  even  with 
Rachel.  By  one  of  the  marvellous  intuitions  of  her 


230  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

sex,  she  seemed,  in  her  strongest  moods  at  least,  to 
count  confidently  upon  his  coming  out  of  the  war 
unscathed,  and  he  remained,  as  he  had  been  for  so 
long,  the  chief  impulse  with  her  in  all  she  did. 

This  I  pass  over  lightly,  for  the  reason  that  it  was 
impossible  for  me  to  know,  during  the  wTar,  much 
about  it.  Until  afterward,  my  chiefest  interest  was 
in  them  as  in  young  girls  in  a  strange  land,  thrown 
largely  upon  themselves,  making  the  best  they  could 
of  their  opportunities. 

I  recall  distinctly  how  each  looked  the  day  I  first 
saw  them,  but  not,  stage  by  stage,  the  process  in 
them  afterward  of  change,  as  I  was  thrown  sometimes 
with  one,  then  with  the  other,  during  my  intermittent 
visits  to  the  city  in  which  they  lived.  What  helped 
to  interest,  and  aided  me  toward  understanding  them, 
was  their  growing  divergence  of  character  as  the 
years  rolled  by.  One  day,  for  instance,  I  arranged  to 
take  them  with  me  to  see  an  author,  whom,  of  all  her 
favorites,  Persis  had  long  been  most  desirous  to  see. 
As  before,  Rachel  excused  herself.  Wearied  out  as 
the  author  was  with  many  years  of  homage,  I  was 
more  interested  in  his  evident  interest  in  Persis  than 
in  anything  else  in  his  house  or  himself.  Had  he 
been  an  emperor,  she  could  not  have  enjoyed  it  as 
much ;  and  the  almost  tremor  of  her  enthusiasm  was 
so  pleasant  to  him  that,  when  we  came  to  leave,  the 
old  monarch,  holding  her  hands  in  his,  gave  her  a  kiss 
upon  the  brow  which  flushed  her  face  with  pleasur 
able  pride. 

"  I  could  not  have  imagined  it,"  I  told  her,  as  we 


GROWTH.  231 

rode  back  to  the  city,  "of  the  great  authoress  whom 
you  remember  we  called  upon." 

"  That  she,  should  kiss  me  ?  Certainly  not ! "  It 
was  said  so  indignantly  that  I  laughed  aloud. 

"But  why  not?  She  was  old,  old  enough  to  be 
your  grandmother,"  I  insisted ;  but  Persis  only  drew 
herself  back  still  more,  as  if  from  the  distinguished 
lady  in  question,  and  deigned  no  reply.  "  It  puzzles 
me,  too,"  I  went  on,  "  that  Miss  Eachel  did  not  care 
to  go." 

"  Not  if  you  knew  her  as  well  as  I  do,"  Persis  said. 
"  She  is  different.  You  forget  what  a  father  she  has. 
It  makes  her  very  shy  of  men,  especially  of  men  who 
have  a  great  reputation.  She  cared  for  her  father 
apart  from  all  that,  against  all  that.  Eachel  loved 
her  father,  —  loved  him,  Mr.  Guernsey,  a  great  deal 
more,"  Persis  said  almost  angrily,  "  than  /  could  love 
any  man." 

I  laughed  outright,  she  was  so  much  in  earnest,  as 
always,  and  it  was  merely  to  turn  the  conversation 
that  she  added,  "  That  is  the  reason,  Mr.  Guernsey, 
why  Rachel  is  so  shy  of  you" 

"Of  me ?  What  do  you  mean ?  I  cannot,"  I  said, 
"  see  any  connection  —  " 

"  She  does  not  care  for  authors  as  girls  naturally 
do.  And  then,"  Persis  continued  with  archness,  "  her 
father  was  a  distinguished  man.  He  was  a  genius, 
too,  Mr.  Guernsey,  but,"  my  companion  said  with 
mocking  lips,  "  men  of  genius  do  not  stand  as  they 
should  with  Eachel.  From  her  experience  of  her 
father,  of  the  father  of  Eoss  too,  I  believe  she  has 


232  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

almost  a  horror  of  them."  She  laughed  merrily,  see 
ing  how  much  I  was  teased  at  being  considered  to 
belong  to  the  illustrious  class  specified. 

"  It  is  the  absurd  exaggeration  of  Mrs.  Trent  in 
talking  of  me  to  Miss  Rachel,"  I  protested.  "  Unfor 
tunately  Mrs.  Trent  measures  me,  as  she  does  every 
body,  by  her  liking.  And  so  Miss  Rachel  imagines," 
I  added  with  an  uncomfortable  laugh,  "  that,  when  I 
am  out  of  her  sight,  I  am  lying  drunk  somewhere." 
But  my  companion  would  give  me  no  further  light 
upon  the  subject. 

In  fact,  she  went  on  spoiling  me  instead;  she  seemed 
to  like  to  talk  with  me.  Whenever  we  met,  at  her 
house  or  elsewhere,  I  had  but  to  mention  a  book  for 
her  to  ask  eagerly  about  it,  if  she  had  not  read  it. 
It  was  a  pleasure  to  talk  to  her  in  regard  to  it  or 
anything,  she  listened  with  such  zest,  anticipating 
what  I  was  about  to  say,  quickened  into  suggestions, 
assenting,  dissenting,  praising,  at  times  almost  scold 
ing.  To  converse  with  her  about  an  author  or  a 
book  was  to  interest  me  in  writer  or  volume  much 
more  than  I  ever  thought  I  could  be.  So  of  what 
she  had  read,  of  what  she  intended  to  study,  she  was 
so  full  of  attention,  so  rapid  in  reply  arid  remark, 
her  color  came  and  went,  her  fine  eyes  never  wavered 
from  the  topic. 

As  the  time  rolled  on,  her  growth  was  as  by  an 
unceasing  succession  of  summers  of  enthusiasms. 
Her  eyes  were  larger,  darker,  more  full  of  soul  and 
purpose,  she  had  richer  color,  her  tones  were  fuller 
and  sweeter,  her  hair  seemed  to  be  darker  and  more 


GROWTH.  233 

abundant,  as  her  cheeks  became  more  rounded,  her 
form  developing  into  that  of  the  complete  woman. 

I  knew,  when  I  began,  how  difficult  it  would  be  to 
tell  all  this  !  The  worst  of  it  was  that  she  gave  me, 
when  we  met,  an  impression  that  I  knew  so  much,  and 
that  she  wyas  so  glad  to  learn.  For  my  life  I  could 
not  help  feeling  as  if  she  was  a  fine  painting  which 
was  growing  —  what  a  fool  I  was  to  think  it !  —  un 
der  my  hand.  Not  that  I  ever  said  so  to  myself. 

And  then  she  did  so  sincerely  believe  in  me !  Not 
so  much  in  me  for  myself,  but  for  what  she  rated  me 
as  having  done.  No,  not  as  having  done !  Heaven 
knows  that  my  ideal  of  what  I  hoped  to  do  was 
immeasurably  beyond  all  I  had  so  far  accomplished, 
and,  in  her  eagerness,  she  did  not  see  me  as  I  was, 
but  as  I  would  be  some  day,  —  a  day,  alas !  which  so 
far  has  never  dawnefl. 

As  the  war  slowly  drew  its  bleeding  length  along, 
the  girls  derived,  I  feel  sure  of  it,  a  goodly  part  of 
their  education  from  it.  They  had  a  complete  course 
of  study  always  in  hand.  Every  day,  every  hour, 
seemed  to  be  systematically  given  to  lessons  of  one 
kind  or  another.  Teachers  came  to  them,  and  they 
went  to  teachers.  They  were  members  of  classes, 
they  belonged  to  conservatories  of  music,  they  took 
courses  of  lectures.  And  yet  the  war  was  the  great 
instructor.  There  were  periods  of  municipal  depres 
sion,  of  hilarious  exultation,  as  the  banner  fell  or  rose 
upon  the  distant  fields.  Orations  were  frequent,  lec 
tures  from  returned  philanthropists ;  societies  arose  to 
devise  means ;  sanitary  fairs  were  held.  It  was  im- 


234  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

possible  to  hear  so  much  military  music,  to  see  the 
flag  so  often,  to  read  the  daily  papers,  to  live  in  such 
ever-varying  enthusiasm,  to  take  part  in  so  much 
vigorous  conversation  at  table,  in  parlors  and  every 
where,  and  not  be  developed  by  the  contest  as  by  a 
perpetual  and  powerful  impulse.  For  the  period,  at 
least,  the  bullets  slew  idleness  in  the  city  as  surely 
as  it  did  soldiers  at  the  front.  Frivolity  perished  at 
the  cannon's  breath,  as  surely  as  did  slavery.  To 
Rachel  and  Persis,  as  to  all  of  their  age,  the  war  was 
a  Spartan  education  which  would  leave  its  pupils, 
nobler,  more  unselfish,  stronger,  and  better  every  way 
than  they  could  otherwise  have  been. 

For  there  was,  as  we  were  to  learn  afterward,  more 
of  Spartan  broth  in  the  fare  of  Rachel  and  Persis 
than  even  Mrs.  Trent  imagined  at  the  time.  Even  if 
Persis  had  been  careless  as  to  money  matters,  Eachel 
possessed  both  an  experience  and  temperament  which 
insured  a  wise  economy.  Notwithstanding  their  ut 
most  thrift  they  found  it  hard  to  keep  out  of  debt. 
Ross  Urwoldt,  as  we  were  to  learn  afterward,  had 
elected  himself  their  guardian  and  treasurer.  It 
must  have  been  the  hardest  work  of  his  warfare  to 
keep  his  charges  supplied,  thrown  hither  and  thither 
as  he  was,  with  sufficient  money.  I  do  not  know 
what  fictions  he  resorted  to  as  to  proceeds  due  Ra 
chel  from  her  property,  as  to  instalments  on  her  land 
which  he  was  owing  to  Persis.  What  I  do  know  is 
that  he  kept  himself  stripped  to  the  last  penny  of 
even  his  depreciated  Confederate  money  that  the  girls 
might  not  suffer.  I  used  to  wonder  at  times  as  to 


GROWTH.  235 

why  Rachel  seemed  so  sober,  why  Persis  had,  even 
in  our  most  animated  interviews,  an  absent  manner. 
Poor  things  !  Being  often  in  so  tight  a  place  myself, 
I  might  have  guessed,  from  the  intuition  of  sheer 
sympathy  and  fellow-feeling,  why  it  was.  But  they 
kept  the  story  of  their  needs  as  closely  to  themselves 
as  I  kept  my  own.  With  all  her  feminine  wit,  under 
the  impulse  even  of  her  heart,  Mrs.  Trent  no  more 
found  out  their  secret  than  she  did  mine.  Not  until 
afterward. 

And  thus  the  war  drew  to  its  close ;  and,  upon  the 
whole,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that,  more  than  the 
mere  war,  more  than  their  books  and  lectures,  it  was 
the  privation  Persis  and  Rachel  endured,  on  occasions 
at  least,  which  had  most  to  do  with  their  education 
at  that  date. 

Even  now  I  do  not  understand  Ross  well  enough 
to  know  why  he  should  write,  as  he  did,  to  me,  and 
not  to  them.  Military  discipline  may  have  had  much 
to  do  with  it,  but  his  remittances  to  them  always 
passed  through  the  hands  of  Dr.  Trent  or  myself.  To 
us  he  said,  in  enclosing  it,  all  he  could  say ;  to  them 
he  merely  sent  his  regards.  But,  as  I  write,  I  recall 
that  where  he  was  most  intent,  there,  as  I  have  de 
scribed,  he  was  most  silent.  In  regard  to  nothing  in 
the  world  was  he  as  intent,  these  dark  days  through, 
as  in  regard  to  Persis.  Yes ;  that,  I  feel  sure,  accounts 
for  his  course.  He  was  as  a  scout  who  leans  forward, 
silent,  motionless,  because  he  is  looking,  is  listening, 
for  his  life. 


236  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTEE  XX. 

A  VISITOR. 

noon,  some  months  after  the  war  was  over,  I 
lounged  in  the  doorway  of  a  bookstore  in  the 
city,  catching  a  glimpse  of  every  person  who  passed 
me,  going  up  or  down.  There  were  portly  men  among 
them  and  comely  women ;  but  I  was  struck  to  the 
heart  as  I  saw  how  many  of  the  women  were  invalids. 
Dr.  Trent  had  suggested  the  fact,  and  now  each  pallid 
face  of  these  confirmed  his  almost  savage  remarks. 
Why  should  the  cheeks  of  the  woman  of  thirty,  who 
has  just  passed,  be  so  very  thin  ?  Here  again  comes 
a  pigeon-chested  girl !  This  is  a  buxom  lass,  but  evi 
dently  Irish.  A  girl  with  the  beauty  of  health  and 
refinement  in  her  aspect  passed  by,  but  not  often. 
Here  is  a  colored  woman,  overdressed,  and  stout 
enough  in  all  conscience !  Alas,  with  the  next  wo 
man  who  went  by,  began  a  new  series  of  the  sallow, 
the  fragile,  the  languid.  "If  these,  when  dressed 
for  the  streets,  are  so  sickly  of  appearance,"  I  thought, 
"  what  must  they  seem  when  in  the  undress  and 
negligence  of  home  ?  And  what  is  the  cause  ?  hard 
work  ?  poverty  ?  care  ?  consumption  ?  neglect  ?  Do 
they  lace  too  tightly  ?  eat  too  little  ?  Can  it  be 
possible  that  they  exist  upon  pies  or  doughnuts  ? 
Through  what  have  these  women  passed  that  so 


A    VISITOR.  237 

many  of  their  faces  are  as  worn  as  that  of  Liberty 
upon  the  current  coin  ?  " 

I  was  looking  up  street  as  I  thus  reflected,  when  I 
saw  coining  toward  me  a  man  whose  aspect  arrested 
my  eyes  by  its  unlikeness  to  the  generality  of  the 
men.  People  glanced  at  him  a  second  time  in  going 
by,  so  foreign  did  he  seem.  Except  for  the  unkempt 
look  of  his  clothes,  the  slouch  of  his  felt  hat,  and 
that  he  was  taller,  darker  of  visage,  with  blacker  eyes, 
hair,  and  mustache,  there  was  nothing  to  distinguish 
him  beyond  a  military  bearing  so  military  as  to  be 
that  of  a  soldier  among  enemies.  His  foreignness 
appeared  to  be  deeper  than  that  of  land  or  language ; 
it  was  not  disdain  so  much  as  it  was  an  unconscious 
ness  of  the  crowd  among  which  he  moved.  He 
looked,  as  he  came,  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the 
left,  but  straight  before  him  over  the  heads  of  the 
people,  and  with  a  steadiness  of  gaze  which  I  never 
saw  in  any  other. 

Now  I  knew  a  little  of  what  had  befallen  Eoss 
Urwoldt  since  I  last  saw  him.  From  what  I  had 
noticed  in  the  papers,  from  what  Persis  and  Rachel 
told  me,  I  was  aware  that  he  was  one  of  the  best 
known  of  the  Confederate  officers  in  his  region,  popu 
lar  for  the  ferocity  with  which  he 'had  fought  through 
the  war.  Since  the  war  he  had  removed  from  Ock- 
lawahaw  to  the  State  of  which  Governor  Beauchamp 
had  been  so  often  the  Washington  or  the  Arnold. 
There  he  had  been  dragged,  as  by  his  ardent  and 
restless  temperament  too,  out  of  planting,  into  the 
practice  of  law,  and  out  of  that  into  politics. 


238  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

He  would  not  have  seen  me  in  passing  if  I  had 
not  stepped  out  of  the  doorway,  taken  his  arm,  and 
limped — for  I  am  still  a  little  lame  —  along  beside 
him,  as  if  he  had  come  that  way  on  purpose.  He 
returned  my  salutation,  but  I  was  hurt  to  see  how 
cold  in  manner  he  remained  even  after  he  saw  who  it 
was. 

"  I  live,"  I  said  to  him,  when  we  came  to  the  next 
corner,  "  at  the  hotel  near  here.  For  many  a  day  I 
have  wanted  your  strong  arm  to  help  me  along.  You 
were  a  long  time  coming.  I  am  glad  to  see  you." 
And  I  adopted  a  tone  as  indifferent  as  his  own  while 
we  talked  of  what  had  befallen  us  since  we  parted. 
But  he  hesitated  when  he  had  seen  me  to  the  hotel, 
had  helped  me  up-stairs  and  to  the  door  of  my  room. 

"  I  am  here  for  merely  a  short  time,  on  business," 
he  said,  giving  me  his  hand  for  good-by. 

I  suppose,  confound  it !  that  I  am  too  much  of 
a  woman.  Otherwise  I  cannot  understand  what  he 
saw  in  my  face,  for  I  said  nothing.  He  came  in, 
pitched  his  hat  upon  the  sofa,  sat  down  as  if  he 
was  tired.  Then  he  straightened  himself  up  again, 
consented  to  a  cigar,  and  seemed  to  be  thinking.  It 
was  not  agreeable  to  see  that  I  was  little  more  to  him, 
I  fear,  than  a  poodle.  If  I  had  not  known  the  man 
better  than  he  knew  himself,  I  would  have  dropped 
him  from  memory  and  heart.  Looking  at  him  as 
he  sat,  I  weighed  him  to  an  ounce,  as  if  in  scales. 
He  was  clothed  from  head  to  foot  in  prejudice,  igno 
rance,  utter  mistake  about  almost  everything ;  but  his 
clothes  were  not  the  man,  they  could  be  changed, 


A  VISITOR.  239 

would  wear  out  of  themselves.  Upon  the  whole,  I 
knew  no  man  intrinsically  more  valuable,  I  could  not 
afford  to  lose  him.  More  than  that,  he  could  not 
afford  to  lose  himself. 

By  slow  degrees  he  told  me  of  how  he  was  situated 
in  many  things,  and  it  was  disagreeable  enough. 
Then  I  offset  what  he  said  by  certain  matters  wherein 
I  too  was  sorely  tried.  "  At  last  it  is,"  I  said  to  him, 
"  only  temporary  circumstance.  Ten  years  hence  to 
day's  circumstance  will  have  perished ;  just  now  it  is 
scaffolding  about  us,  —  scaffolding  essential,  Heaven 
knows  why,  to  our  upbuilding.  You,  Ross,  are  more 
than  the  war,  more  than  the  region  in  which  you  live, 
more  than  the  miserable  politics  in  which  you  are 
mixed  up."  He  had  informed  me  enough  concerning 
his  present  position  for  me  to  say  that  much.  He 
looked  at  me,  stroking  his  mustache  with  a  hand 
which,  I  now  observed,  was  slashed  across  the  back 
with  a  scar. 

"  You  are  Guernsey  still,"  he  said.  "  Has  n't  the 
war  beaten  your  metaphysics  out  of  you  yet  ?  Theo 
rizing  still !  I  never  could  do  it,  never  will.  For 
my  life  I  cannot  help  seeing  things  as  they  are.  My 
eyes  are  too  strong  to  wear  glasses.  Why  can  you  not 
be  sensible,  practical  ? " 

"  That  is  a  fact,"  said  I ;  "  let 's  go  down  to  dinner." 
There  is  no  better  cooking  in  Christendom  than  at 
that  hotel,  and  I  am  sure  Ross  enjoyed  his  dinner ; 
men  of  his  health  and  unceasing  exercise  always  do. 
We  took  our  time  to  it,  and  by  the  end  of  dessert  we 
were  back  again  to  and  with  each  other  as  we  were 


240  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

when  he  lay  wounded  under  my  care  during  the  war. 
When  he  lounged,  at  last,  in  ray  easy-chair  up-stairs, 
cigar  in  hand,  we  had  got  back  pretty  much  to  what 
we  were  when  together  in  college. 

"  You  know  my  opinion  of  men  in  general,  North, 
South,  East,  West,"  he  said  to  me  in  course  of  con 
versation.  "  I  wish  I  could  delude  myself  about  them 
as  you  do.  Not  until  my  imagination  has  mastery  of 
my  reason,  is  that  possible.  Not  that  you  are  a  sen 
timentalist,  Guernsey;  we  all  know  —  "  And  he  must 
needs  go  into  the  exaggerations  in  which  Steven 
Trent,  too,  was  apt  to  deal,  as  to  my  powers. 

"Thank  you,"  I  interrupted  him,  "  but  1  am  too  prac 
tical  a  man  to  puff  myself  up  or  to  be  puffed  up. 
Measured  by  the  money  I  have  made,  I  am  next  to 
nobody.  Estimated  by  any  influence  I  have  exerted, 
my  severest  critic,  alas,  cannot  rate  me  lower  than  I 
do  myself.  But  let  us  speak  of  other  things." 

"The  trouble  with  you,  Guernsey,"  Ross  persisted, 
"  is  that  you  will  not  confine  yourself  to  iron  facts. 
It  may  be  from  excess  of  force  in  you,  but  you  will 
not  keep  to  the  solid  soil.  So  long  as  you  walk  the 
earth  I  can  keep  company  with  you,  but  you  are  sure 
to  leave  your  legs  and  take  to  your  wings,  and  then 
we  part.  No,  Guernsey,  I  can't  fool  myself  about 
things  as  you  do.  I  hate  to  undeceive  you.  It  is 
like  corrupting  a  child." 

"  Never  mind  me ;  go  on,"  I  said. 

He  did  so  at  length.  I  verily  believe  it  was  the 
first  time  he  had  talked  unreservedly  to  any  one  since 
we  parted.  He  told  me  everything  that  had  hap- 


A    VISITOR.  241 

pened  to  him  in  the  chaos  which  came  upon  his 
region  with  the  collapse  of  the  Confederacy.  My 
purpose  does  not  lie  in  that  direction  in  these  pages. 
It  is  with  Eoss  Urwoldt,  and  those  associated  with 
him,  that  I  have  exclusively  to  do.  It  would  be 
worse  than  useless  to  detail  what  he  told  me.  He 
had  more  to  say,  and  it  was  newer  to  me,  than  if  he 
were  just  ashore  from  a  long  sojourn  across  the  At 
lantic.  Never  mind  the  items ;  the  upshot  of  all  was 
his  deepening  disgust  with  his  kind. 

"  As  you  know,"  he  summed  up,  "  I  could  not  live 
in  Ocklawahaw.  Especially  since  Persis  and  Eachel 
left,  what  business  had  I  there  ?  "When  the  people 
where  I  now  live  urged  me  into  politics,  I  told  them 
they  would  be  sorry  for  it.  Guernsey,"  Eoss  added, 
"  you  can  have  no  idea  how,  from  the  start,  I  talked 
to  my  people.  If  I  had  not  fought  as  I  did,  they 
would  have  hung  me."  And,  with  that,  he  went  over 
again  the  miserable  catalogue  of  folly  and  blunder 
against  which  he  had  striven,  and  striven  in  vain. 
"  That  is  one  reason  I  am  here,"  he  wound  up.  "  ^ 
have  come  like  a  doctor  outside  of  a  sick  room  to  get 
a  breath  of  fresh  air.  They  are  a  noble  people,  but 
it  is  too  close  down  there  ! "  And  he  drew  in  a  deep 
breath  as  he  sat.  "  Not  that  it  is  not  worse  up  here," 
he  hastened  to  say ;  "  but,  then,  with  these  people  I 
have  nothing  to  do." 

"Yes,"  I  assented.  "AYe  are  not  as  lazy  as  your 
people  are,  but  we  are  too  sharp,  too  greedy  for  gain. 
You  have  the  freedmen,  and  here  we  have  the  dregs 
of  Europe.  With  you  political  murders  prevail ;  here 

16 


242  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

are  the  murders  of  unborn  children,  brutal  massacres 
for  gold ;  lust,  revenge,  rum,  have  their  victims.  The 
community  fails  with  you  to  punish  crime;  here 
criminals  escape  by  the  use  of  money  or  politics,  even 
when  convicted.  When  I  was  a  little  boy  I  remem 
ber,"  I  added,  "standing  on  tiptoe  at  the  kitchen 
table  to  see  our  old  fat  cook  make  cake.  She  would 
roll  out  the  yellow  dough,  and  then  cut  it  into  shapes 
for  the  oven  with  tin  cake-cutters,  round,  square, 
heart-shaped,  star-shaped.  Ross,"  I  urged,  "into  what 
ever  shape  we  happen  to  be  cut  we  are  all  from  the 
same  dough.  But  I  must  say  that  I  think,  on  the 
whole,  we  up  here  have  the  advantage  of  you." 

"  In  situation.  Yes,"  Ross  assented ;  "  the  highway 
from  Europe  to  Asia  lies  across  the  continent  and 
past  your  doorsteps.  If  we  are  off  the  track  to  the 
southward,  so  is  Canada  to  the  northward.  There  is 
no  merit  in  situation." 

"  Of  course  not.  But  it  is  not  merely  that,  as  you 
say,  the  Broadway  of  the  planet  runs  through  our 
part  of  the  country ;  it  is  because  the  ventilation  is 
better !  Whatever  topic  comes  up  here  is  so  thor 
oughly  discussed,  is  so  severely  thrashed  and  sifted, 
that  we  get,  at  last,  down  to  the  clean  grain  of  what 
ever  is  good  in  it.  A  man  ought  to  climb  to  where 
he  can  take  a  wide  look  all  around.  Pull  your  feet 
out  of  the  mud,  old  fellow,  and  try  to  get  up  toward 
the  way  God  looks  at  things." 

"  I  don't  believe  in  God,"  he  growled. 

"  Very  well,"  I  said.  "  Take_  the  separate  sections 
of  the  globe  as  you  do  the  manifold  squares  of  the 


A    VISITOR.  243 

multiplication  table ;  bless  you,  the  same  arithmetical 
working  runs  through  the  whole."  But  I  saw  in  his 
eyes  how,  as  I  said  it,  he  was  lying  in  wait  for  me. 

"  That  is  what  I  believe,"  he  exclaimed.  "  That  is 
what  Buckle  and  Comte  say,  what  every  sensible  man 
is  coming  to  see.  It  is  all  —  nations,  religions,  civil 
izations —  merely  a  vast  machine.  Suns,  planets, 
winds,  waters,  men,  lower  animals,  vegetables,  min 
erals, — all  grind  together,  but  parts  of  the  same  com 
plexity  of  wheels,  and  wheels  within  wheels.  We 
originate,  we  live  our  brief  moment,  we  perish  alike. 
The  greatest,  the  only  certain,  thing  I  know  of  is  the 
sublime  order  of  nature ;  the  meanest  of  all  things  is 
man.  Not  that  I  do  not  recognize  the  intellect  by 
which  he  comprehends  nature ;  it  is  the  miserable 
meannesses  which  invariably  accompany  this  of  which 
I  speak." 

"  Of  course.     And,"  I  said,  "  what  then  ? " 

"  If  a  man  is  ambitious,  let  him  enjoy  himself  that 
way.  Most  likely  he  prefers,"  Eoss  added,  "  to  eat 
and  drink  and  die.  Every  man  to  his  taste."  My 
companion  suddenly  checked  himself.  "  What  is  the 
use  of  talking  ? "  he  said.  "  I  am  tired  of  talk ;  only 
do  not  try  to  fool  me  at  least  with  fancies  of  vice  and 
virtue,  God  or  devil  or  soul.  I  live  upon  what  I  see 
and  know.  I  am  a  —  Positivist  is  the  word,  is  n't 
it?" 

"  You  know  nothing  about  men  ;  what,"  I  asked, 
"  can  you  know  about  God  ?  Don't  be  such  a  bigot. 
Don't  disgust  me  with  you,  Eoss  ! " 

He  looked  up  at  me  as  I  stood  over  him  where  he 


244  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

sat.  In  his  silent  way  he  was  very  angry.  I  saw 
that.  What  a  fool  I  was  to  discuss  such  topics,  any 
topics !  My  friend  was  so  chafed  by  long  years  of 
disappointment  that  little  was  left  of  him  beyond  the 
original  savage ;  so  to  speak,  he  was  worn  down  to 
that.  His  ancestors  learned,  ages  before  his  day,  to 
grow  cool  also  as  they  grew  hot,  cool  that  they  might 
strike,  wlien  they  did  strike,  to  the  heart ;  and  Eoss, 
I  long  ago  had  observed,  grew  slower  and  darker  as 
he  became  more  angry.  He  arose  to  go,  arose  very 
deliberately.  If  he  did  go,  we  would  be  done  with 
each  other  forever. 

"  Eoss,"  I  said,  and,  reaching  up,  I  grasped  his 
shoulder,  looking  with  as  bright  a  face  as  I  could  into 
his  sullen  eyes,  —  "  Eoss,"  I  repeated,  "  don't  go.  I 
want  to  tell  you  about  the  young  ladies." 

"  Young  ladies  ?  Ah,  it  is  Persis  and  Rachel,  you 
mean."  And  it  gave  me  a  new  knowledge  of  him, 
the  coldness  with  which  it  was  said. 

Ross  was  the  most  aboriginal  man  I  ever  knew. 
His  education  neither  altered  nor  obscured  that. 
There  are  crystals  which  must  be  dug  up,  broken  in 
two,  and  the  surface  ground  smooth,  before  the  native 
angles  and  colors  can  be  seen.  So  with  Eoss ;  educa 
tion  and  trouble  had  ground  him  until  the  nature  of 
the  man,  hard  and  brilliant  as  crystal,  was  revealed, 
not  changed. 

Yes,  I  got  a  deeper  glimpse  into  the  man  in  the 
coldness  he  showed  as  to  the  two  girls  he  had  known 
so  long.  It  was  to  me  as  to  the  Arctic  sailor  is  the 
lifting  of  the  fog  which  reveals  new  regions  of  bound- 


A   VISITOR.  245 

less  ice.  But  such  a  sailor  knows  nothing  of  the 
boiling  geysers  which  may  be  at  the  heart  of  those 
realms  of  winter,  and  what  I  did  not  know  then  was, 
that  it  was  the  very  intensity  of  his  interest  in  regard 
to  Persis  which  held  him  silent.  Really  that  was  his 
sole  business  there,  to  see  her.  During  the  whole 
war,  through  his  growing  disgust  with  everything 
else,  his  love  for  her  was  the  one  hope  of  his  life ;  so 
much  so  that,  brave  in  everything  beside,  he  was  a 
coward  in  this.  He  was  positively  afraid  to  see  her, 
to  ask  after  her.  Who  could  say  what  changes  the 
long  absence  might  not  have  wrought  in  her  ?  Most 
probably  she  had,  like  his  mother,  gone  the  way  of 
her  sex,  and  fallen  into  some  womanish  whim  which 
had  ruined  her  for  him.  She  must  have  studied  her 
self  by  this  time  into  who  knows  what  affectations, 
new-fangled  notions,  bookish  eccentricities  !  He  had 
not  seen  her  since  she  was  a  girl,  an  Ocklawahaw 
girl,  and  now  she  was  a  woman,  a  city  lady,  an  edu 
cated  lady,  while  he  had  lived  in  camp,  among  savage 
men.  Moreover,  how  could  she  fail,  by  this  time,  to 
have  fallen  in  love  with  some  college  professor,  some 
long-haired  monkey  of  a  music-teacher,  —  who  could 
say? 

I  did  not  know  then  what  he  thought,  but  I  went 
on  to  tell  him  how  faithfully  the .  young  ladies  had 
toiled,  how  greatly  they  were  improved.  He  stood 
before  me  as  I  did  so,  yielding  to  me  from  head  to 
foot  the  same  motionless  attention  which  fastened 
upon  mine  his  steadfast  eyes.  Not  one  word  had  he 
to  make  in  reply,  but  he  could  not  hide  from  me  how 


246  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

pleased  he  was.  The  next  day,  and  afterward,  it  was 
of  Rachel  he  spoke,  never  of  Persis.  The  same  after 
noon  I  went  with  Eoss  to  show  him  where  they  lived, 
asking  him,  as  I  did  so,  "  Do  you  happen  to  know  a 
Major  McAllister  ? " 

"  Yes,"  he  said ;  "  I  know  at  least  of  a  man  so 
named.  He  was  an  official  under  Governor  Beau- 
champ  when  Secession  began.  When  the  convention 
of  his  State  deposed  the  Governor,  McAllister  disap 
peared.  It  was  known  that  he  went  over  to  the 
Federals." 

"It  is  the  same  man.  He  held,"  I  said,  "some 
appointment  in  the  army  which  enabled  him  to  grant 
or  refuse  permits  to  wagon  cotton  through  the  lines. 
It  was  a  post  of  great  trust,  and  was  given  him  for 
the  sake  of  his  friend  the  Governor.  Let  me  tell  you 
a  noble  thing  of  him.  One  day,  during  the  war,  a 
well-known  adventurer  came  into  his  office,  to  secure 
a  permit.  There  were  grave  reasons  for  hesitation  in 
his  case,  and  Major  McAllister  told  him  he  would 
consider  the  matter  and  let  him  know  next  day. 
The  other  man  bowed,  looked  at  him  in  a  meaning 
way,  laid  a  brown  paper  parcel  on  his  desk,  and  was 
about  leaving,  when  the  Major  beckoned  to  him  to 
halt.  The  room  was  full  of  army  people.  The  Major 
opened  the  parcel  before  them  all,  found  it  to  be,  as 
he  had  conjectured,  a  roll  of  greenbacks.  Springing 
to  his  feet,  he  hurled  it  with  an  oath  at  the  head  of 
the  one  who  tried  so  shamelessly  to  bribe  him,  and 
ordered  him  never  to  show  his  face  there  again.  The 
bills  flew  all  over  the  office,  —  many  thousand  dol- 


A    VISITOR.  247 

lars,  I  was  told.  The  man  gathered  them  up,  and  was 
not  seen  again.  It  made  quite  a  sensation  at  the 
time,  the  army  correspondents  were  full  of  it.  I  am 
glad  to  know  the  Major." 

"  Is  he  here  ? "  Boss  asked  indifferently. 

"  That  is  the  reason  I  spoke  of  it.  He  is  a  medium- 
sized  man,"  I  said,  "  middle-aged,  somewhat  bald,  with 
side  whiskers,  and  the  appearance  in  general  of  a  well- 
to-do  banker.  It  is  because  he  boards  at  the  same 
house  with  Persis  and  Kachel  that  I  tell  you  of  it. 
Mrs.  Trent  hints  to  me  that  he  is  showing  devoted 
attention  to  the  young  ladies.  He  knew  Eachel  when 
she  was  a  child.  Of  course  he  honors  her  for  the 
sake  of  her  father,  with  whom  he  was  associated  so 
closely  in  those  dark  and  trying  times.  It  is  said 
that  he  is  quite  wealthy.  I  think  he  is  a  stock-broker 
in  the  city.  Mrs.  Trent  has  a  woman's  keen  scent  in 
such  matters,  and  thinks  it  quite  likely  he  will  pro 
pose  to  one  of  the  ladies." 

I  did  not  say  which.  My  reason  in  telling  Eoss  of 
this  bit  of  gossip  was  as  I  said  ;  only  I  had  another 
in  addition.  But  his  bronzed  face  told  no  tales.  He 
said  nothing. 

"  It  was  noble  in  him,  was  n't  it  ?  to  refuse  the  bribe, 
especially  as  the  war  had  stripped  him  of  everything. 
I  admire  such  a  man,"  I  remarked  with  warmth. 

"  Do  you  ?  He  is  rich,  is  he  ?  Guernsey,"  Eoss 
said  dryly,  "  I  chance  to  know  that  the  scene  you 
describe  did  take  place.  Alas,  my  trusting  friend, 
it  was  but  a  bit  of  melodrama  arranged  beforehand. 
It  succeeded.  The  spotless  virtue  of  McAllister  was 


BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

placed    thereby   so   entirely   beyond   suspicion  that 
from  that  day  he  grew  rich  fast,  very  fast." 

"  Here  is  the  house,"  I  said  by  this  time.  "  You 
will  find  the  ladies  in  at  this  hour,  I  hope.  I  will  not 
go  in.  You  will  have  much  to  talk  about."  And  I  left 
him  upon  the  step  waiting  for  admittance. 


NOT  YET.  249 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

NOT  YET. 

TT  may  be  supposed  that  I  was  eager  to  see  my 
friend  when  he  came  that  night  to  our  room  at 
the  hotel.  What  had  taken  place  was  not  written  in 
his  face,  at  least,  and  he  fell,  almost  as  soon  as  he 
had  lighted  his  cigar  and  settled  himself  in  his  seat, 
into  talking,  to  my  surprise,  of  Rachel,  always  of 
Rachel. 

"  I  had,"  he  said  gravely,  "  to  tell  her  the  details  of 
her  father's  troubles  since  she  saw  him  last."  As  he 
smoked,  Ross  told  me  the  whole  story  of  the  last  days 
of  Governor  Beauchamp. 

On  leaving  Ocklawahaw  before  the  war  began,  as 
has  been  described,  the  old  politician  entered  upon 
another  of  the  many  intermittent  stages  of  his  career. 
The  astute  wire-workers  knew  well  enough  what  they 
were  about  when  they  returned  in  triumph  from  the 
Reservation  bringing  the  exiled  statesman  with  them. 
He  was  made  Governor  in  a  whirlwind  of  enthusiasm. 
But  it  was  the  old  story  over  again  with  him  of  alter 
nate  popularity  and  yet  greater  unpopularity  follow 
ing  swiftly  thereupon.  In  this  case  there  was  good 
reason  for  it.  Hardly  had  he  been  inaugurated  before 
the  secession  of  the  South  came.  During  the  earn- 


250  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

paign  Governor  Beauchamp  had  dealt  in  generalities. 
No  man  could  have  been  more  eloquent  than  he  as  to 
the  usurping  purposes  in  general  of  the  North,  that  is, 
if  this,  he  said,  and  that,  and  the  other  were  so.  But 
when  Governor,  and  called  on  to  take  an  active  part 
for  secession,  he  first  hesitated,  then  halted,  then  en 
gaged  in  vigorous  resistance.  To  the  utmost  of  his 
ability  he  threw  his  ponderous  person  against  the 
whole  movement.  Not  a  drop  of  liquor  did  he  touch. 
There  was  no  indolence  now ;  never  had  he  shown 
the  energy  he  now  put  forth.  Wherever  he  was, 
whether  in  his  parlor,  at  the  Governor's  mansion, 
talking  at  the  door  of  the  post-office  with  a  group  of 
trembling  adherents  about  him  and  plenty  of  scowling 
foes  hovering  around,  perched  upon  the  counter  of  a 
friendly  store  with  every  straggler  along  the  streets 
dropping  in  to  listen  to  what  he  had  to  say  on  the 
supreme  topic  of  the  time,  whittling,  as  he  sat  in  the 
Executive  Department,  at  whatever  white  pine  or  bit 
of  red  cedar  he  could  lay  hands  upon,  —  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  did  he  pour  out,  in  his  slow 
and  drawling  fashion,  one  unceasing  tide  of  anecdote, 
argument,  ridicule,  denunciation  against  secession, 
with  prophecy  exceedingly  definite  as  to  its  certain 
and  disastrous  ending.  But  he  was  only  one  man 
against  many  thousand.  Deposed  from  office,  he  re 
tired  to  his  plantation,  and  lived  there  for  a  year  or 
two  in  deepest  obscurity  and  ignominy.  His  intense 
hatred  to  secession  may  have  furnished  alcohol  in 
itself  more  than  sufficient,  for  he  never  drank  again. 
Theje  was  something  unspeakably  affecting  in*  the 


>  NOT  YET.  251 

devotion  of  the  old  hero  to  the  Union  he  had 
always  loved  so  well.  Cast  out  by  those  who  had 
once  flattered  and  fawned  upon  him,  his  white  hairs 
streaming  as  it  were  upon  the  midnight  tempest  of 
the  war  raging  about  him,  absolutely  alone  in  his  un 
shaken  faithfulness  to  what  he  regarded,  against  every 
personal  advantage,  as  true  and  right,  he  was  as  King 
Lear  bearing  in  his  arms  the  dead  Cordelia.  Not  a 
man  in  his  region  as  large  of  stature,  as  vigorous, 
seemingly,  and  notwithstanding  his  years,  as  he,  yet 
the  pure  agony  of  the  thing  was  too  much  for  him. 
He  hoped  against  hope ;  with  every  breath  he  pre 
dicted  the  destruction  of  the  Confederacy;  but,  when 
the  cause  he  so  detested  seemed  sure  of  success,  he 
could  endure  it  no  longer.  In  his  devotion  to  the 
Union  he  seemed  to  have  forgotten  the  existence  even 
of  his  daughter,  ajjd  died  at  last  of  a  broken  heart. 

It  was  after  his  death  that  Ross  contrived  to  wring 
enough  money  out  of  the  neglected  plantation  to  re 
mit  to  the  daughter ;  for  she  was  the  only  heir.  Let 
it  be  added  that,  with  the  downfall  of  secession,  the 
Governor  entered,  all  the  more  that  he  was  dead,  upon 
a  greater  popularity  than  ever,  and  one  which  prom 
ises,  in  the  pages  of  history,  to  endure  forever. 

Ross  rehearsed  the  story  to  me  as  he  had  to  Rachel. 
"  That  man,  McAllister,"  he  went  on,  "  will  use  his 
old-time  companionship  with  the  Governor  to  advance 
himself  with  her.  It  is  natural  that  she  should  for 
get  everything  now,  except  the  really  grand  and  noble 
traits  of  her  father,  and  McAllister,  the  rascal,  will 
profit  by  it." 


252  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

My  friend  should  not  have  evaded  me  in  my  desire 
to  know  how  he  was  pleased  with  the  changes  in 
Rachel  and  Persis,  if  I  had  known  then,  as  I  did  after 
ward,  the  depth  of  his  interest  in  one  of  them.  It 
may  have  been  intended  to  throw  me  off  from  learning 
this ;  for  he  went  on  to  speak  of  the  condition  of  things 
in  the  State  in  which  he  now  lived,  and  of  which 
the  old  Governor  had  been  the  alternate  idol  and 
abhorrence.  That  led  me  to  urge  upon  him  to  use 
his  popularity,  as  one  who  had  fought  as  he  had  done, 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  State,  now  sorely  in  need 
of  wise  leaders;  although  I  would  much  rather  have 
talked  of  Persis  instead. 

From  the  moment  of  his  coming  I  could  not  but 
see  how  shy  he  was  in  speaking  to  me  of  her,  nor 
could  I  bring  him  to  do  so  while  he  was  with  me. 
He  told  me  instead,  of  his  plans,  so  far  as  he  had  any, 
for,  like  everybody  else  in  his  region,  all  business  for 
some  time  to  come  was  broken  up.  The  fact  is,  for 
the  present,  my  friend  was,  although  he  said  nothing 
to  me  about  it,  an  almost  penniless  man.  There  was 
reason  enough  in  that  for  holding  himself  aloof  for 
the  time  from  even  Persis.  He  was  in  no  condition 
to  talk  to  any  one  of  marriage,  nor  could  he  tell  when 
he  would  be.  Since  I  have  come  to  know  things,  I 
am  very  sure  it  must  have  drained  him  for  the  time 
of  his  last  cent  to  have  made  the  long  journey  to  see 
her.  But  it  was  little  he  said  to  me  about  her  or 
himself,  and  in  a  day  or  two  he  had  gone.  But  I 
could  not  understand  why  he  seemed  to  be  so  reluc 
tant  to  allude  to  Persis ;  it  was  as  if  there  was  some 
thing  in  me  which  prevented ! 


NOT  YET.  253 

I  was  unusually  busy  those  days.  In  sucli  intervals 
of  my  hurried  life  as  I  could  get,  I  wrote  —  some  of 
it  on  the  cars,  most  of  it  in  hospitals  —  such  a  book 
as  the  times  prompted.  When  Ross  arrived  it  was 
passing  through  the  press.  Now,  a  thing  looks  in 
print  very  different  from  what  it  does  in  manuscript. 
You  may  be  very  comfortable  in  your  chosen  apart 
ment  while  the  blinds  are  shut  and  the  curtains  are 
down;  but  putting  your  scrawls  into  print  is  like 
tearing  open  shutter  and  curtain,  and  letting  in  the  piti 
less  sunshine ;  the  revelation  of  litter  and  flying  dust 
is  remorseless.  It  was  this  prevented  me  from  seeing 
my  friends  for  some  time  after  Eoss  departed.  As 
soon  as  I  could  get  away  from  my  work,  I  called  upon 
Mrs.  Trent. 

"  I  have  understood,"  she  said  soberly,  "  why  you 
did  not  call  before."  Her  general  aspect  was  as  if  I 
had  lost  a  father  or  a  mother  since  she  saw  me  last, 
except  that  she  could  not  condole  with  me  as  openly. 
There  was  a  tender  sympathy  in  her  silence,  an 
avoidance  as  of  something  which  must  be  painful 
to  me.  More  than  once,  when  I  spoke  of  Eoss  or  of 
the  young  ladies,  she  lifted  pitying  eyes  at  me,  and 
proceeded  to  tell  me  how  Jean  had  hurt  her  hand, 
or  some  recent  and  surprising  smartness  of  little 
Guernsey. 

"I  happened  to  be  with  them,"  she  remarked  at 
last,  and  when  she  could  escape  the  topic  no  longer,  — 
"with  Persis,  I  mean,  arid  Eachel,  when  Colonel 
Urwoldt  called."  Mrs.  Trent  would  not  have  been 
a  woman  had  she  not  been  more  eager  to  speak  about 


254  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

that  than  anything;  but  she  did  so  hesitatingly,  as 
if  she  feared  to  pain  me.  "  Knowing  how  busy  Persia 
always  is,"  she  said  by  piecemeal,  "  I  never  go  up  to 
their  room.  That  day  I  was  with  them  in  the  parlor, 
about  to  leave  after  a  short  visit,  —  they  are  generally 
so  busy,  —  when  the  door-bell  rang.  Rachel  was  look 
ing  out  of  the  window,  Persis  was  unusually  bright 
and  well.  She  was  telling  me  what  she  intended  to 
do.  A  fine  situation  as  teacher  is  .soon  to  be  vacant, 
and  she  was  making  every  effort  to  secure  it.  She  is 
a  remarkable  girl,  Mr.  Guernsey,  but  already  too 
tensely  strung  by  temperament,  and  our  atmosphere 
exhilarates  her  like  wine.  Dr.  Trent  says  that,  con 
sidering  the  excitements  of  the  city,  the  air  is  too 
stimulating  for  enduring  health.  I  have  never  seen 
her  looking  as  well  Eachel  is  the  picture  of  health, 
in  her  way,  you  know.  Persis  was  positively  brill 
iant.  She  seems  to  develop  substance,  too.  I  hope 
so;  she  is  always  so  excited,  enthusiastic.  Rachel 
must  have  seen  to  it,  for  Persis  was  dressed  that  day 
plainly,  but  in  admirable  taste.  Her  cheeks  were  all 
in  a  glow  of  hope  of  securing  the  situation ;  her  lips 
were  like  scarlet,  her  eyes  were  very  bright.  She  has 
fine  eyes,  Mr.  Guernsey." 

"  Very  fine,"  I  assented,  not  altogether  understand 
ing  why  my  friend  mentioned  it  as  if  it  were  a 
calamity. 

"  I  think  she  has  improved  more  than  she  would 
have  done  had  she  been  born  here."  My  companion 
did  not  lift  her  eyes  from  the  fancy  work  she  was  do 
ing  as  she  said  it. 


NOT  YET.  255 

"  Yes,"  I  assented ;  "  it  is  as  when  one  has  to  ran 
before  taking  a  leap,  it  gives  that  much  more  impulse. 
It  is  better  for  her  that  she  was  born  and  had  lived 
so  long  in  Ocklawahaw.  The  newness  of  everything 
here,  the  contrast  with  all  that  went  before,  is  itself 
an  influence  upon  her.  It  develops  a  rosebush  to 
transplant  it,  you  know." 

"  Yes ;  she  has  an  energy,  a  fire,  beyond  what  I 
hoped  for  when  she  first  came.  You  do  think  her  a 
really  remarkable  woman  ? "  Mrs.  Trent  looked  at 
me  as  a  mother  might  at  an  ailing  child. 

"  I  have  not  met  a  lady  whom  I  admire  more,  nor," 
I  added,  "  of  whose  future  I  am  more  confident.  A 
new  order  of  your  sex  is  coming  upon  the  stage,  my 
dear  madam,  a  race  of  more  highly  educated  women 
than  has  yet  been  seen,  and  she  is  growing  to  be  as 
fine  an  instance  of  it  as  I  know." 

Mrs.  Trent  gave  a  little  shiver,  or  was  it  a  shudder  ? 
"  She  has  always  seemed  to  be  so  interested  in  you 
and  in  your  books,  Mr.  Guernsey  ! "  And  my  friend 
worked  steadily  on,  her  eyes  upon  her  work. 

"Much  more  than  I  or  they  deserve.  It  is  her 
kindness,  her  enthusiasm  for  books  in  general.  I 
have  enjoyed  her  society  very  much.  But  you  were 
there,"  I  asked,  "  when  Colonel  Urwoldt  called  ? " 

"  I  told  you  long  ago  how  much  the  Eev.  Mr. 
Adair  admires  her.  It  must,"  said  Mrs.  Trent,  stop 
ping  to  think,  "  have  been  five,  no,  eight  months  ago, 
that  I  told  you  about  that."  It  was  as  if  she  were 
defending  herself.  "You  do  remember  that  I  told 
you,  Mr.  Guernsey  ? " 


256  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  I  do.  Everybody  knows  that.  But,"  I  demanded, 
"  you  have  not  told  me  about  —  " 

"The  visit  of  Colonel  Urwoldt?"  Mrs.  Trent  inter 
rupted  me.  Evidently  she  was  in  haste  now  to  tell 
me  and  be  done  with  it.  "As  I  said,  Rachel  was 
standing  looking  out  of  the  window.  She  is  a  fine 
girl,  Mr.  Guernsey.  In  her  way,  you  must  consent 
to  it,  she  is  also  a  very  excellent  girl.  She  is  more 
matronly  in  her  ways  than  Persis.  I  am  afraid  she 
does  not  care  for  literature  in  general,  not  as  much 
so  as  Persis.  You  find  her  interesting  company,  do 
you  not  ? " 

"  Certainly  I  do,"  I  replied,  and  my  friend  added,  — • 

"  So  far  as  physical  development  goes,  I  think  she 
is  very  beautiful,  more  beautiful  than  Persis.  And, 
then,  she  has  such  excellent  sense.  It  is  a  pity  she 
does  not  take  to  books,  but  then — "  There  was  almost 
a  pathos  in  Mrs.  Trent's  manner  as  she  pleaded 
with  me  for  Rachel.  "  Mr.  McAllister,"  she  con 
tinued,  "almost  worships  her.  He  is  an  old  friend 
of  her  father's.  They  say  he  is  very  rich.  I  am  told 
he  takes  her  driving  very  often.  He  is  getting  up  a 
superb  monument  to  the  memory  of  Governor  Beau- 
champ.  Rachel  showed  me  some  of  the  designs. 
Persis  is  full  of  enthusiasm  over  the  Governor's  last 
days.  Yes,"  Mrs.  Trent  weighed  the  matter  slowly, 
and  settled  it  with  a  conclusive  nod  forever,  "  Rachel 
is  much  more  beautiful  than  Persis !  It  may  not 
be  a  purely  intellectual  beauty,  but  she  is  the  most 
evenly  balanced  girl  I  know.  You  are  not  going, 
Mr.  Guernsey  ?  Wait  a  moment  and  Steven  will 


NOT  YET.  257 

be  in.  But  I  was  telling  you,"  and  Mrs.  Trent  also 
arose,  "of  the  day  Colonel  Urwoldt  called.  As  I 
told  you,  Persis  was  in  full  career,  laughing,  talking 
of  her  plans,  her  face  turned  from  the  door  toward 
me,  when  the  bell  rang  and  the  stupid  servant 
showed  the  visitor  into  the  parlor  without  a  word. 
I  saw  a  dark-visaged,  handsome,  stern-faced  military 
man  standing  there,  and  touched  the  arm  of  Persis. 
I  wish,"  Mrs.  Trent  said  it  very  sadly,  "you  could 
have  seen  her  face  as  she  turned  and  saw  who  it  was. 
I  am  sorry  to  tell  you,  but  I  feel  that  I  ought." 

"What  do  you  mean?"  My  face  must  have  ex 
pressed  something  more  than  I  intended,  for  I  fan 
cied  that  the  eyelids  of  my  friend  grew  moist. 

"  How  could  I  help  seeing  it  ? "  she  said.  "  How 
can  I  help  telling  it  now  ?  As  soon  as  Persis  saw 
him  her  eyes  fairly  glittered,  her  hands  went  out 
toward  him,  she  made  a  joyous  movement  forward, 
checked  herself,  flushed,  turned  pale,  was  terribly 
confused.  It  looked  as  if  all  her  years  of  education 
were  gone  in  an  instant,  as  if  she  was  only  a  poor 
little  country  school-girl  again !  And  the  moment 
before  she  seemed,"  Mrs.  Trent  said  indignantly,  "  to 
be  so  erect  and  strong." 

Dr.  Trent  came  in  at  the  moment,  and  his  wife 
made  no  attempt  to  detain  me,  when  I  left  soon 
after. 

But  even  good  Mrs.  Trent  did  not  knoAv  everything. 
It  was  Persis  she  was  most  concerned  for  when  I 
saw  her  next.  "  I  cannot  understand  you  men ! "  she 
said  to  me  as  sharply  as  if  I  had  been  doing  some- 

17 


258  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

thing  wrong.  She  was  mortified,  angry.  "  There  is 
no  understanding  you,"  she  said,  "  no  comprehending 
one  of  you ! " 

"  Is  that  so  ? "  I  sadly  assented.  Little  Guernsey 
was  standing  beside  me  with  his  wonted  grasp  upon 
my  trousers,  and  I  lifted  him  between  us  as  a  shield, 
kissed  him  and  set  him  down.  "  Why  will  you  cut 
his  curls  off?"  I  complained.  "Is  it  to  keep  him 
sheared  of  all  mystery !  Poor  little  fellow,  your 
head  is  as  round  as  a  billiard  ball." 

"  Why  did  you  not  bring  Colonel  Urwoldt  to  see 
us  ? "  Mrs.  Trent  eyed  me  with  suspicion.  "  I  gave 
him  a  special  invitation  to  do  so  that  day  before  I 
left  him  to  the  girls.  And  Steven  was  his  class 
mate.  I  had  arranged  to  have  Persis  and  Rachel 
meet  you  at  tea.  Why  was  it  ? " 

"He  would  not  come,  ma'am,"  I  said,  humbly 
enough  for  the  two ;  "  events  have  soured  him  a  little. 
He  does  not  feel  at  home  among  us  yet.  But  we 
shall  see  him  again.  Unless  I  am  mistaken,  he  will 
take  a  high  position.  In  his  own  region  he  is  con 
sidered  the  ablest,  the  most  energetic  of  men." 

"Mr.  Guernsey,"  Mrs.  Trent  spoke  in  an  injured 
manner,  "  I  had  hoped  you  had  known  me  long 
enough  to  make  a  friend  of  me.  Do  you  suppose 
I  am  blind  ?  I  know  you,  sir,  better  than  you  know 
yourself.  No  man  has  a  more  loving  heart.  You 
have  worked  hard,  have  been  tossed  from  post  to 
pillar,  are  cut  off  from  your  own  home.  I  know  no 
gentleman  who  is  more  domestic  than  yourself,  more 
keenly  sensitive  to  the  joys  of  a  home  life.  Nothing 


NOT  YET.  259 

more  natural !  I  would  have  been  astonished,  un- 
ler  the  circumstances,  if  you  had  not ! " 

"  Had  not  ?  "  I  had  the  aspect  of  an  idiot ;  inwardly 
I  knew  only  too  well  what  she  meant. 

"  Had  not  fallen  in  love  with  her.  It  was  natural 
you  should  come  to  love  her."  Mrs.  Trent  grew  rosy 
red,  with  temper  too,  as  if  defying  somebody.  "  What 
could  be  more  natural  ?  Persis  is  of  an  ardent  nature. 
She  worships  genius.  And  then  you  have  been  more 
than  a  brother  to  her  since  she  came.  Do  I  not 
know  how  highly  she  esteems  you?  Rachel  is  as 
good,  as  beautiful,  as  excellent  a  girl  as  lives,  but 
Persis  can  sympathize  with  you  ! " 

"My  dear  madam,"  I  gasped,  my  cheeks  uncom 
fortably  warm,  "  you  forget.  Colonel  Urwoldt  —  " 

"Colonel  Urwoldt !"  The  name  became  an  epithet  as 
she  spoke  it.  "  That  is  your  weakness,  Mr.  Guernsey. 
You  can  no  more  appreciate  yourself  than  if  you 
were  a  child  of  three  years  old.  Colonel  Urwoldt !  Is 
he,  ignorant,  uncultured,  a  mere  soldier  as  he  is,  —  is 
lie  fitted  to  make  Persis  happy  ?  Mr.  Guernsey,"  the 
eyes  of  the  good  lady  lighted  up  with  the  sudden  in 
tuition,  "  that  is  the  reason  he  dared  not  bring  affairs 
to  a  point.  He  saw  how  superior  she  was ;  he  dared 
not,  dared  not!" 

"  You  are  prejudiced,  madam."  I  hastened  to  say 
that  at  least  before  I  made  my  escape.  "Colonel 
Urwoldt  is  nearer  my  idea  of  the  original  man,  the 
native  gentleman,  than  "  —  I  saw  in  Mrs.  Trent's  eyes 
that  she  demanded  exception  to  be  made  for  her 
husband,  but  I  would  n't  do  it  — "  than  any  man  I 


260  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

know !  He  has  been  disappointed  in  people.  Unless 
I  mistake,  he  has  set  his  whole  life  upon  Miss 
Persis ! "  It  was  said  at  a  venture,  for  I  did  not 
dream  then  how  much  this  was  so.  "  If  he  is  dark 
and  stern,"  I  went  on,  "  he  is  also  the  sincerest,  most 
self-sacrificing  of  men.  At  heart  he  abhorred  slavery 
more,  because  he  knew  it  better,  because  it  was  his 
own  region  it  cursed,  than  any  one  even  in  this  city 
dreamed  of  doing.  If  he  could  have  done  so,  he 
would  infinitely  rather  have  fought  against  it  and  for 
the  Union ;  that  I  do  know !  As  it  is,  he  is  like  a 
man  in  a  swamp  who  has  struggled,  is  struggling 
desperately  to  plant  his  foot  upon  solid  ground.  If 
you  but  knew  how  hungrily  he  yearns  toward  what 
he  has  not!"  Mrs.  Trent  looked  at  me  in  amaze 
ment  I  spoke  so  warmly,  but  how  little  either  of  us 
imagined  the  tragic  facts  of  the  case  !  "  The  day  is 
coming,"  I  added,  "  when  he  will  be  one  of  the  best- 
known  men  in  the  land.  Persis  will  be  proud  of 
him ! " 

There  was  no  use  of  saying  anything.  Mrs.  Trent 
had  fallen  back  into  the  arctic  intrenchmeuts  of  a 
woman's  sense  of  infallibility,  in  comparison  to  which 
that  of  the  Pope  is  a  trifle,  and  she  smiled  pityingly 
upon  me  as  I  tried  to  break  away.  But  she  added,  — 

"  I  will  not  detain  you  a  moment.  And  I  know 
that  Persis  does  have,  as  I  said,  a  certain  girlish  feel 
ing  for  your  friend.  But  that  is  not  her  true  self. 
She  has  really  outgrown  all  that.  Consider,  Mr. 
Guernsey,  that  she  is  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
of  women,  and  she  is  developing  into  something  higher 


NOT  YET.  261 

every  day.  It  is  to  you  she  is  suited ;  she  will  be  a 
living  and  powerful  impulse  to  you  as  long  as  you 
live.  From  the  first,  Steven  and  myself  have  set  our 
heart  upon  it.  You  owe  it  to  yourself,  you  owe  it  to 
her." 

Never  had  I  seen  Mrs.  Trent  so  much  in  earnest. 
I  was  half  out  of  the  door  when  she  laid  her  hand 
upon  my  shoulder.  "  So  much  is  involved,"  she  said. 
"  I  have  always  been  to  you  as  your  own  sister.  If 
you  will  tell  me  one  thing,  I  will  never  trouble  you 
again.  Mr.  Guernsey,  solemnly  now,  have  you  not 
fallen  in  love  ?  " 

Only  a  woman  like  Mrs.  Trent  would  have  asked 
it.  Years  before  I  had  been  tempted  to  a  wild  pas 
sion  for  a  Mrs.  Thirlmore,  a  married  woman,  but  that 
was  a  fever  from  which  I  recovered.  I  suppose  I  am 
a  child,  for  now  I  liud  fallen  in  love,  for  really  the 
first  time  in  my  life,  as  desperately  in  love  as  a  man 
can  !  I  do  not  know  what  Mrs.  Trent  saw  in  my  face, 
but  in  the  act  of  my  leaving  she  kissed  me  impul 
sively  upon  the  forehead.  It  was  the  woman  in  her, 
not  the  sister,  but  that  which  is  most  purely  and  in 
tensely  the  woman  of  a  woman,  —  the  mother  in 
her,  —  which  made  her  do  it. 

"  I  knew  it ! "  she  said  in  triumph,  and  let  me  go. 


262  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTEK  XXII. 

PICNIC. 

NOT  another  syllable  passed  between  Mrs.  Trent 
and  myself  upon  the  subject  which  had  inter 
ested  us  so  much.  I  think  she  was  sorry  she  had 
gone  as  far  as  she  had,  for  she  tutored  her  eyes,  too, 
that  nothing  might  remind  me  afterward  of  how  she 
had  forced  my  secret  from  me.  I  think  she  had  a 
more  tender  interest  in  me,  as  in  Persis,  thereafter ; 
but  she  was  doubly  careful,  was  comparatively  cold 
toward  us,  the  more  effectually  to  make  us  feel  at 
ease. 

Persis  and  Eachel  seemed  to  be  about  the  same. 
Speaking  of  the  last,  it  is  due  her  to  say  that  she  was, 
as  Mrs.  Trent  said,  improved  in  every  sense  since 
coming  among  us ;  she  was  more  refined,  if  not  more 
placid.  The  contour  and  color  of  her  cheeks,  the 
deepening  interest  and  attention  in  her  serene  eyes, 
the  very  poise  of  her  rounded  person,  was  reaching 
a  repose,  too,  of  manner  which  was  to  her  sterling 
sense  as  the  motionless  transparency  of  the  water  of 
a  little  loch,  such  as  one  sees  among  the  hills  of 
Scotland,  is  to  its  granite  bottom. 

Persis  was  developing,  also,  along  the  lines  of  her 
nature.  When  it  first  occurred  to  me  that  she  was 


PICNIC.  263 

not  unlike  a  racer  of  the  best  blood,  I  cast  out  the 
suggestion  with  scorn.  And  yet  no  better  illustration 
has  come  to  me  since.  I  have  a  fondness  for  a  horse 
of  the  purest  breed  and  training  such  as  I  have  for 
the  sea,  because  both  are  in  unceasing  motion.  It  is 
.iot  the  sleek  sides,  the  arched  neck,  the  delicate  pas 
terns,  the  clear  eyes,  the  fine  ears,  the  thin  nostrils,  of 
this  animal,  the  next  of  all  to  man,  which  I  care  for, 
except  as  these  indicate  and  answer  so  easily  to  its 
excess  of  life.  There  are  times  when  you  see  the 
speed  of  a  spirited  horse ;  you  can  always  feel  it  strug 
gling  against  your  rein.  Now,  with  deepest  respect 
for  Miss  Paige,  I  could  no  more  refrain  from  recog 
nizing  this  resemblance  in  her  than  I  could  from 
noting  the  likeness  of  a  fox  to  one  man,  a  jackal  to 
another,  a  leopard  to  —  Eoss  Urwoldt,  we  will  say. 
She  possessed  a  sinewy,  even  intense  intellect,  to 
begin  with.  Her  hard  life  with  her  grandfather  had 
developed  it,  and  from  too  early  a  period.  The  long 
waiting  in  Ocklawahaw  had  deepened  her  purpose 
while  it  quickened  her  impatience.  Now  that  she 
had  opportunity,  she  had  given  herself  to  that  op 
portunity  with  what  would  have  been  called  excess 
had  it  been  an  affair  of  dress,  fashion,  going  into 
society,  instead  of  education.  Moreover,  she  grew 
by  what  she  fed  upon,  until  she  was  coming  to  feel 
that  a  certain  repression,  almost  suppression  of  her 
self,  was  at  once  her  hardest  and  most  essential  duty. 
It  was  this  that  I  noticed  in  her,  toward  me  espe 
cially,  after  the  visit  of  Colonel  Urwoldt. 

"  I  think  that  even  Eachel  has  studied  too  hard," 


264  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Mrs.  Trent  said  to  me  one  July  morning,  a  month  or 
two  afterward.  "  You,  too,  are  worn  out,  Mr.  Guern 
sey.  Dr.  Trent  cannot  take  the  time,  but  your  book 
is  out  now ;  we  need  a  vacation,  all  of  us.  If  you 
will  take  us  to  the  Island,  we  will  go.  You  know 
that  you  can  imagine  yourself  at  your  own  island 
home  again  when  you  are  there,  and  this  island  is 
not  two  hours  away." 

Of  course  I  assented,  and  it  was  thus  that  we  came 
to  go  together  upon  the  picnic  of  which  I  am  now  to 
speak.  Good  Mrs.  Trent  took  along  a  large  hamper, 
and  her  colored  coachman  to  carry  it;  but  I  knew 
that  she  took  with  her,  also,  some  leading  motive  in 
having  the  girls  and  myself  with  her,  which  I  re 
frained  from  looking  into ;  like  the  closed  hamper  to 
my  incipient  appetite,  it  satisfied  me,  for  the  present, 
merely  to  know  that  it  was  a  good  and  sufficient  mo 
tive,  and  that  it  was  there. 

The  island  to  which  Mrs.  Trent  referred  was  a 
dozen  or  so  of  acres  of  rock  and  sand  and  straggling 
grass  and  huckleberry-trees,  down. the  harbor.  As 
yet  it  had  escaped  the  eye  of  enterprise ;  not  a  hotel 
was  erected  there,  not  a  steamer  touched  at  it.  A 
lighthouse  stood  upon  its  highest  point,  but  I  doubt 
if  a  kid  slipper  had  ever  pressed  its  lonely  sands. 
Dr.  Trent  and  I  discovered  it  long  before  when  upon 
a  fishing-  excursion,  but  we  had  sworn  the  skipper 
of  the  sailing-boat  which  took  us  there  to  tell  no 
man  of  its  advantages ;  and  it  was  he,  his  boat 
scrubbed  for  the  purpose,  who  carried  us  there  on  the 
occasion  of  which  I  am  now  speaking. 


PICNIC.  265 

By  agreement  we  met  on  the  appointed  hour  at  the 
boat  after  a  very  early  breakfast  and  before  the  sun 
was  up,  —  Mrs.  Trent  and  her  children,  Miss  Rachel, 
Miss  Persis,  and  myself.  Already  it  gave  promise  of 
being  a  perfect  day. 

"  I  knew  it, "  Mrs.  Trent  said,  as  we  settled  our 
selves,  hamper,  coachman,  and  all,  in  the  boat,  and 
pushed  off  from  the  wharf,  —  "  knew  it  as  soon  as  I 
woke.  One  feels  what  sort  of  day  it  is  before  the 
shutters  are  thrown  open." 

She  was  right.  There  are  some  mornings  when 
one  does  not  like  to  be  too  closely  looked  at  before 
ten  o'clock  by  one's  most  intimate  friend,  when  you 
refrain  from  bestowing  upon  the  one  next  you  at  the 
breakfast-table  more  than  a  glance  and  a  curt  good- 
morning.  The  weather  is  to  be  reckoned  by  what  it 
does  within  rather  than  without  you,  and  the  measure 
of  your  inner  sunshine  is  that  you  love  to  see  and 
speak  to  everybody,  that  you  see  clearly,  and  do  not 
shrink  from  being  seen.  Nobody  said  so,  but  I  think 
we  all  felt  this  as  we  took  a  look  at  each  other  and 
then  at  the  sea  opening  out  before  us.  For  some  time 
we  were  almost  entirely  silent  in  our  contentment 
with  the  hour.  There  was  breeze  enough  to  fill  our 
sails,  but  the  water  was  smooth,  the  sky  clear.  Over 
coats  and  shawls  were  in  use,  but  the  coolness  was 
not  more  than  enough  to  give  edge  to  our  pleasure. 

"I  dare  say,"  Persis  remarked  at  last,  "that  the 
novelty  of  being  up  and  out  at  such  an  hour  has 
something  to  do  with  it." 

"  Yes,"  Rachel  said  slowly ;  "  it  reminds  me  of  how 


266  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

it  is  with  me  when  I  am  asleep.  I  always  sleep 
sweetly,  but  I  love  to  wake  about  midnight,  and 
change  my  position,  and  go  to  sleep  again." 

The  eyes  of  Jean  grew  rounder  as  she  listened  to 
the  words.  "  0  Miss  Kachel ! "  she  said,  in  accents 
of  reproof,  and  the  laugh  which  followed  helped  to 
wake  us  up. 

"What  I  meant,"  Rachel  explained  with  rising 
color,  "  was  that  one  likes  a  change.  In  little  things, 
I  mean.  You  love  to  walk  after  sitting,  to  sit  after 
walking,  to  rest  after  studying.  I  enjoy  it." 

"  And  to  study  after  resting.  Vacation  is  only  be 
gun,"  Persis  went  on,  "  and  I  am  already  looking  for 
ward  with  pleasure  to  books  again.  See  how  crisp 
the  water  is ! "  Little  Guernsey,  holding  firmly  to 
me  as  he  knelt  upon  the  seat,  was  looking  where  she 
pointed,  at  the  foam  made  by  the  boat  as  our  speed 
increased. 

"  Is  it  soda-water  ? "  he  asked  of  me  in  confidence ; 
but  Jean,  on  the  other  side  of  me,  heard  it,  and  her 
laugh  had  in  it  the  same  freshness  as  of  sea  and  air. 
For  what  is  the  peculiar  charm,  of  the  dawn  of  a 
beautiful  day  but  its  likeness  to  childhood  ?  There 
was  a  tender  veil  upon  the  coming  clearness,  a  creamy 
hue  on  sky  and  water.  It  may  be  because  one  rises 
refreshed  by  sleep,  because  every  sense  is  hungrier 
and  more  sensitive  at  that  hour ;  but  nature  meets  you 
then  as  if  it  also  had  awakened  from  darkness  and 
slumber  to  a  new  life.  There  is  a  tremor  in  earth 
and  air  as  of  eagerness  to  enjoy  and  be  enjoyed. 
The  colors  of  nature,  lavender,  ashes  of  roses,  dewy 


PICNIC.  267 

pink,  were  delicate  and  variable  like  those  of  infancy. 
Toward  noon  our  sunburned  skipper  would  have 
something  to  sav,  but  even  he  was  as  silent  now  as 

O  w  * 

the  coachman  beside  his  hamper  in  the  prow.  The 
silence  and  the  colors  seemed  to  go  together ;  it  was 
an  enjoyment  as  delicate  as  the  changing  hues  about 
us.  We  tacked  this  way  and  that,  as  we  went  down 
the  harbor,  passing  now  a  fisherman's  scrap  of  an 
island  upon  the  one  hand,  and  then  a  fort  with  can 
non  threatening  and  sentinels  pacing  the  ramparts  on 
the  other,  and  upon  all  rested  the  same  silence  as  of 
sleep  slowly  passing  into  wakening.  Fishing-boats 
sailed  by  us  coming  in  from  the  sea,  now  singly,  now 
in  little  fleets ;  but  these  too  were  as  silent  as  if  in  a 
picture.  Then  the  glow  in  the  east  grew  rapidly 
from  gray  to  gold,  giving  us  the  royal  reason  thereof 
in  the  sun  rising  out  of  the  sea.  As  if  some  pro 
hibition  was  lifted  therewith,  we  laughed  and  talked 
freely  enough  until  we  reached,  and  landed  upon,  our 
island. 

On  the  instant  we  were  Robinson  Crusoes,  every 
soul  of  us,  with  the  peculiarity  of  pleasure  which 
belongs  to  nothing  else,  and  we  climbed  the  rocks 
with  the  old,  old  enthusiasm  which  is  ever  new. 
After  that  we  visited  the  keeper  of  the  light,  climbed 
his  tower,  and  inspected  his  lanterns. 

"  He  is  so  lonely,"  said  Persis  as  we  went,  "  that  he 
will  be  delighted  to  see  us.  We  will  be  a  joy  to  him, 
a  glad  surprise." 

She  at  least  should  have  been  such  to  him,  so  over 
flowing  was  she  with  an  almost  feverish  enjoyment : 


268  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

but  she  was  mistaken ;  we  were  nothing  of  the  kind ; 
indeed,  I  fear  we  were  little  more  to  him  than  the 
sea-gulls.  To  us  the  island  was  a  temporary  Eden. 
To  him  it  was  so  many  rocks,  such  and  such  strips 
of  sand  covered  and  uncovered  by  the  tide,  a  few 
stunted  trees,  so  much  work  tending  his  lamps,  so 
many  dollars'  salary.  He  had  been  there  for  many 
years;  had  grown  tall  and  lank  and  silent  as  his 
tower.  We  were  conscious  of  being  frivolous  in  com 
parison,  as  we  moved  about  him  asking  questions. 
Evidently  he  despised  our  laughter ;  what  was  there  to 
laugh  at  ?  We  could  arouse  no  enthusiasm  in  him 
by  our  questions  as  to  the  terrible  storms  he  had 
experienced,  he  had  grown  so  used  to  everything. 
The  only  smile  which  broke  like  a  ray  of  sunshine 
upon  the  wintry  coast  of  his  aspect  was  when,  before 
we  left,  we  shared  our  dinner  with  him. 

"  It  would  kill  me  to  live  here,  but,"  Persis  said, 
"it  would  suit  Rachel  admirably." 

"Except  that  it  would  break  Major  McAllister's 
heart,  we  might,"  Mrs.  Trent  laughed,  "  marry  Rachel 
to  the  lighthouse-keeper.  He  is  so  useful  a  man. 
Rachel  might  love  him  for  that." 

"  He  would  do  as  well  as  Mr.  Adair."  Rachel  said 
it  with  all  simplicity,  but  it  was  something  new  to 
me,  the  way  in  which  Persis  colored,  while  Mrs.  Trent 
laughed  so  heartily  that  I  asked  who  Mr.  Adair  was. 
As  if  I  did  not  know  ! 

"He  is  keeper  of  another  lighthouse,"  she  ex 
plained  ;  "  but  his  lantern  is  of  a  newer  fashion,  arid 
revolves  more  rapidly  ! " 


PICNIC.  269 

I  fear  there  was  a  spice  of  spite  in  Mrs.  Trent,  for 
I  knew  very  well  —  everybody  knew  him  —  that 
Mr.  Adair  was  a  clergyman  of  a  more  liberal  school 
than  hers,  and  who,  as  I  had  long  heard,  was  paying 
Persis  much  attention,  being  himself  unmarried. 

"  I  am  hungry,"  Persis  suggested ;  "  suppose  we  eat 
our  dinner." 

We  made  the  entire  round  of  the  island,  first,  that 
we  had  resolved  upon,  peering  into  every  nook  and 
cranny  as  we  went.  Then  we  dined  upon  the  highest 
point  of  rock.  Our  skipper  must  have  made  a  sat 
isfactory  disposition  of  the  share  of  dinner  we  sent 
him,  for  we  could  see  how  sound  asleep  he  was  after 
ward  on  the  deck  of  his  boat  anchored  out  from  the 
shore.  Jean  and  little  Guernsey  were  off  fishing  in 
the  landlocked  pools  under  the  care  of  the  coachman, 
after  he  had  himself  eaten  his  dinner,  and  taken  to 
the  man  in  the  lighthouse,  with  our  compliments, 
what  was  left  of  Mrs.  Trent's  superabundant  supply 
of  ham  and  tongue,  corned  beef  and  jelly,  pies  and 
cakes.  "  I  think  he  will  despise  our  sardines,"  Persis 
said.  "  They  are  an  insult,  they  are  such  little  fish, 
to  him  and  to  his  ocean.  But  why  is  it,"  she  added, 
when  we  had  settled  ourselves,  after  eating,  upon  the 
rocks,  — "  why  is  it  that  one  enjoys  a  rock  so  when 
the  sea  is  dashing  against  it  ?  Is  it  a  sense  of  security 
as  against  danger  ? " 

"  Yes,"  I  replied ;  "  but  we  enjoy  it  most  because 
it  is  the  contrast  of  stillness  and  solidity  with  eternal 
motion  and  variety." 

As  I  said  it  I  glanced  from  Persis  to  Kachel,  from 


270  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Rachel  to  Persis.  The  latter  was  all  the  more  energetic 
in  that  she  was  taller,  but  weighed  little  more  than 
when  she  came  to  the  city.  Her  eyes  seemed  larger, 
if  her  cheeks  were  a  trifle  thinner.  By  a  strange 
blending  of  the  two,  she  was  paler  and  yet  more 
brilliant  of  color  than  I  had  observed  before.  Al 
though  she  was  evidently  tired,  she  could  not  be  at 
rest.  She  had  on  a  neatly  fitting  dress  of  some  drab 
material,  but  she  threw  aside  her  hat  at  the  earliest 
moment,  and  was  reckless  as  to  her  dress  in  clamber 
ing  among  the  rocks,  her  hair  breaking  from  its  con 
finement  as  she  went.  Nor  was  she  without  plenty 
to  say. 

"  You  know  I  had  not  seen  the  ocean  until  I  came 
East,"  she  explained ;  "  to  see  it  every  day  is  the  best 
part  of  my  life  here.  Rachel  says  that  she  could  live 
in  Ocklawahaw  again ;  I  could  not.  It  is  so  small 
there,  so  close,  so  shut  in  and  dull  and  dead !  I  feel 
as  if  I  began  to  live  when  I  came  here ;  everything 
going  before  is  like  a  blank." 

I  saw  Mrs.  Trent  looking  at  me  from  behind  where 
Persis  stood,  for  she  could  not  sit  still  —  Persis,  I 
mean  —  for  an  instant.  What  Mrs.  Trent  said  with 
her  eyes  was,  "  She  is  growing  very  pretty,  is  n't 
she  ? "  What  I  meant  by  my  nod  was,  "  Yes,  she 
is  indeed.  But  she  will  be  much  more  so  some 
day."  I  was  aware  next  that  the  question  had  gone 
out  of  Mrs.  Trent's  eyes,  and  the  pitying  look  at  me, 
the  hovering  look,  had  entered  instead.  I  turned  to 
glance  at  Rachel. 

"I  prefer  to  walk  around  these  big  boulders  in- 


PICNIC.  271. 

stead  of  climbing  over  them,"  she  had  said  from  the 
outset,  and  now  she  remained  where  she  was  when 
she  first  sat  down  to  dinner.  I  do  not  think  her  dress 
was  of  a  finer  material  than  that  of  Persis,  but  there 
was  greater  care  displayed,  I  should  say,  in  the  ruffs 
about  her  throat,  the  cuffs  about  her  quiet  hands,  the 
nameless  pleatings  and  arrangements  of  ribbons. 
There  is  a  perpetual  change  about  such  things,  a 
diversity  of  cut  and  color,  but  I  class  it  with  the 
bewildering  variety  one  sees  among  flowers,  leaf  and 
petal,  stamen  and  pistils.  I  enjoy  it,  but  I  would 
break  down  if  I  were  a  dry-goods  clerk  and  had  to 
name  and  put  a  price  upon  it  inch  by  inch.  What 
ever  her  dress  was,  Eachel  had  composed  it  carefully 
around  her ;  it  had  an  almost  liquid  flow  about  her  per 
son  as  she  sat,  her  hands  in  her  lap,  looking  out  upon 
the  sea  with  calm  eyes.  Yes,  she  was  becoming,  as 
Mrs.  Trent  remarked,  so  far  as  face  and  form  went, 
more  beautiful  than  Persis,  and  she  merely  sat  and 
smiled  and  listened,  when  Persis,  incited  by  Mrs. 
Trent,  began  badgering  me  about  my  books.  No  one 
would  have  thought  or  spoken  about  them  anywhere 
else;  it  was  part  of  the  picnic  freedom,  and  a  going 
back  to  our  childhood  on  the  part  of  us  every  one,  to 
allude  to  them  at  all.  We  had  simply  nothing  else 
just  then  to  do. 

"You  have  a  bad  habit  of  changing  the  subject 
when  any  one  speaks  about  your  books,"  Mrs.  Trent 
said.  "  It  is  not  polite,  is  it,  Persis  ?  Besides,  we 
are  off  among  the  rocks,  far  away  from  people." 

"  If  you  will  count,"  I  said,  "  it  is  every  seventh 


272  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

wave  which  comes  against  this  rock  with  the  greatest 
force.  There  is  rhythm  in  nature,  and  seven  is  the 
number  of  perfection.  Count !  One,  two,  three,  four, 
five,  six  waves  —  look  out  for  the  next  —  whish  ! 
boom  !  Did  you  ever  notice  it  before  ?  Keep  off'  the 
edge  of  the  rock,  Miss  Persis ;  it  is  slippery." 

"  Which  is  not  the  question,"  the  young  lady  ob 
served.  "Tell  us  about  what  you  have  written." 

There  may  have  been  some  small  conspiracy,  but 
there  was  sucli  persistence  in  the  matter  that  I  said 
at  last,  "  Once  for  all  I  will  tell  you  everything.  I 
don't  want  to  talk  about  my  productions  for  this 
reason.  When  I  begin  at  a  book  it  is  because  I  have 
a  mustard-seed  of  an  idea  of  something  I  want  to 
say.  It  is  a  very  small  seed,  microscopic,  but  it 
grows.  You  would  n't  believe  it,  knowing  the  result 
as  you  do,  but,  as  I  write,  I  fall  into  the  absurdest 
infatuation.  Day  after  day  I  tear  away  at  it  until 
it  is  ended.  One  becomes  merely  the  secretary  and 
slave  of  the  men  and  women  in  the  book,  a  hard- 
worked  amanuensis  whose  very  existence  they  ignore. 
They  do  what  they  please,  say  what  they  like ;  one 
has  nothing  to  do  with  it  except  to  write  it  out. 
Friends  blame  me  for  making  my  characters,  as 
they  call  them,  act  in  this  way  or  the  other.  How 
can  I  help  it !  I  have  for  them  the  yearning  of  a  fee 
ble  and  helpless  parent.  It  pains  me,  shocks  me,  for 
them  to  do  this  and  that.  I  know  it  is  not  artistic 
for  them  to  act  as  they  do.  Moreover,  I  love  them 
dearly,  the  worst  of  them  the  most,  although  they 
care  nothing  for  me.  As  to  controlling  them,  I  never 


PICNIC.  273 

attempt  to  do  so.  There  is  the  pleasure,  as  of  a 
faithful  slave,  in  toiling  after  them  ;  that  is  all.  I  say 
as  I  work,  Surely  these  people  are  living  people,  will 
live  forever.  Alas,  as  soon  as  I  stop  writing  they  are 
dead.-  So  is  my  hope." 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  Persis  said.  She  had  seated 
herself  near  me  with  an  eagerness  which  had  to  do 
with  something  quite  beyond  what  I  was  saying. 
"  Your  hope  ?  What  do  you  mean  ? "  she  asked. 

"  It  is  hard,"  I  said,  "  for  a  mother  when  her  baby 
boy  turns  out  to  be  an  idiot,  and  I  suppose  it  was 
the  wildness  of  my  hope ;  but  no  man,  not  an  author, 
can  tell  how  bitterly  I,  at  least,  am  disappointed  in 
the  baby  of  my  brain  when  I  come  to  get  a  square 
look  at  it !  The  disgust  you  have  for  your  completed 
manuscript  was  deep  enough.  To  compare  small  things 
to  great,  you  remember  how  Sheridan  wrote  under  the 
last  line  of  his  '  School  for  Scandal,'  '  Thank  God,  I  'm 
done  with  this  detestable  thing  at  last ! '  So  with  me 
in  my  poor  way,  my  bitterest  critics  could  not  dislike 
my  book  as  sincerely  as  I  do,  except  that  I  have  more 
pity  than  they,  knowing,  as  I  do,  the  ideal,  and  the 
effort  toward  it." 

I  talked  very  freely  with  my  friends ;  but  then  I 
have  very  few  intimate  friends,  exceeding  few,  and  it 
is  only  with  such  that  I  can  be  said  to  talk  at  all. 
This  was  the  first  time  I  had  spoken  even  to  these 
of  my  books,  and  I  determined  it  should  be  the  last. 
So  I  added,  — 

"  A  writer  must  have  enough  of  what  is  called  the 
dramatic  instinct  to  put  himself  in  the  place  of  his 

18 


274  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

characters.  But  it  is  into  the  shoes  of  my  unfriend- 
liest  critic  I  put  my  feet  most  easily.  '  Dear  enemy, 
if  you  only  knew ! '  I  say  to  him."  And  then  I 
lifted  an  honest  hand  against  the  kind  things  the 
ladies  were  trying  to  say.  "  Being  personal  friends, 
you  take  an  interest  where,"  I  said,  "  others  care,  of 
course,  nothing  at  all.  Do  you  remember  what 
your  ugliest  rag  doll  was  to  you  when  you  were  chil 
dren  ?  To  you  it  was  alive,  and,  homely  as  it  was, 
it  was  your  own.  So  with  me.  Ah,  if  you  did  but 
know  how  real  to  me  are  my  people  —  until  they 
leave  me.  And  then  to  see,  as  they  go  out  into 
a  hostile  because  clear-seeing  world,  how  little  they 
resemble  what  I  intended  them  to  be.  They  wander 
out,  hand  in  hand,  like  noodles,  when  to  me  they  were 
so  real,  so  noble,  so  true  !  '  It  is  not  your  fault,'  I 
cry  after  them;  'it  is  because  I  could  not  put  you 
into  the  decent  clothing  of  such  language  as  would 
help  people  of  the  world  to  see  you  as  you  are.  But 
I  did  my  best.  Good-by.  I  will  hear  of  you  no 
more.' "  My  friends  only  laughed  at  me,  and  asked  me 
for  "  more." 

"  Da  you  see  that  cloud  on  the  edge  of  the  Atlan 
tic  ? "  I  said.  "  It  is  smoke ;  the  steamer  which  makes 
it  is  under  the  horizon." 

"  Is  it  ?  But  what,"  Rachel  said  in  her  matter-of- 
fact  way,  "  has  the  boat  to  do  with  your  books  ? " 

"  We  assert  that  only  man  has  sinned.  If  so,"  I 
demanded,  "  why  are  those  little  crabs  fighting  as  they 
are  ? "  and  I  called  the  attention  of  all  to  the  pool  left 
by  the  tide  in  a  fissure  of  the  rocks  at  our  feet ;  "  are 
crabs  wicked  ? " 


PICNIC.  275 

I  am  sure  that  the  others  would  have  let  me  alone 
had  Persis  allowed  it.  Then,  as  always,  she  was  so 
eager  to  know,  to  understand !  During  the  time  of 
her  regular  studies  she  worked  as  in  a  groove ;  but  this 
was  vacation ;  we  were  on  an  excursion  for  pleasure. 
She  was  out  of  the  groove,  but  the  excess  of  effort 
under  which  she  had  toiled  so  long  and  so  hard  re 
mained.  She  was  reacting  already  from  rest;  she 
was  restless  beyond  her  wont,  nervous,  excitable.  "  / 
would  like  to  write  books,"  she  said. 

"  It  must  be  such  an  easy  thing  to  do,"  Eachel 
added. 

"  To  men  of  great  powers  I  dare  say  it  is,"  I  as 
sented.  "  Not  to  lesser  men.  You  can  judge  some 
what  of  a  statue  by  the  heaps  of  marble  chippings  and 
dust  out  of  which  it  arises.  So  of  a  book.  It  is  a 
little  thing,  but  you  have  no  idea  out  of  what  a  mass 
of  blotted  manuscript  and  corrected  proof  it  emerges. 
Only  last  week  one  of  our  best  authors  told  me  how 
he  was  annoyed  by  certain  words  which,  in  writing, 
he  strove  in  vain  to  be  rid  of.  They  insisted  upon 
coming  to  the  tip  of  his  pen  in  almost  every  line. 
Each  writer  has  the  parasitical  words  peculiar  to 
himself." 

"  As  a  rose  has  its  own  aphidce"  Persis  suggested. 

I  made  no  reply  ;  but  what  the  distinguished  author 
really  said  was  :  "  Those  accursed  tautological  phrases 
are  to  rne  what  lice  are  to  a  beggar.  I  comb  my  man 
uscripts  of  them  as  well  as  I  can,  I  comb  what  I  have 
written  over  again  in  proof,  and  yet  the  first  thing  I 
see,  when  the  volume  comes  to  me  from  the  press,  is 


276  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

that  every  page  swarms  with  the  infernal  vermin 
still ! "  I  did  not  put  it  in  that  way  to  my  friends, 
but  I  drew  comfort  at  the  time  from  what  lie  said. 

"  But  the  reward,"  ejaculated  Persis,  "  think  of  the 
reward ! " 

If  Mrs.  Trent  or  Eachel  had  said  it,  I  would  have 
allowed  the  talk  to  end  there.  It  was  Persis,  how 
ever,  and  there  was  that  in  her  manner  which  made 
me  add  :  "  Reward  ?  Of  course  my  knowledge  as  to 
that  is  very  limited.  One  thing  every  writer  soon 
comes  to  understand.  He  may  have  friends,  may 
make  friends.  These  will  like  his  productions,  possi 
bly,  for  the  sake  of  the  productions  themselves.  But 
these  like  an  author  because  they  are  like  the  author  ; 
because  he  is  a  man  of  their  own  school  of  thought, 
opinion,  feeling,  —  above  all,  peculiar  taste.  What 
he  tries  to  say  is  merely  what  they,  too,  think  and 
feel,  even  if  they  do  not  say  it.  Alas,  Miss  Persis, 
the  world  is  painfully  wide  and  diversified.  There 
are  other  schools  of  thought,  too !  These  are  truer, 
possibly,  to  what  all  men  will  think  and  feel  in  twenty 
years,  and  these  may  be  as  hostile  as  the  friends  are 
favorable.  In  fact,  it  is  these  who  put  most  energy  — 
gall  is  more  vigorous  than  honey  —  into  what  they 
have  to  say  of  a  book  and  its  maker.  A  man  is  an 
idiot  if  he  does  not  see  that  he  is  a  prejudiced  person 
concerning  himself,  that,  in  all  likelihood,  what  his 
enemies  say  of  him  is  the  truest  of  all  that  is  said." 

"  But  they,  too,  are  partisan,"  Persis  remarked. 

"  Yes  ;  there  is,"  I  said,  "  some  comfort  in  that.  But, 
at  last,  what  can  any  man  do  but  simply  perform 


PICNIC.  277 

whatever  is  put  in  his  hands  to  do,  and  as  well  as  he 
can  ?  Whatever  I  do  must  show  the  botch  of  my 
clumsy  fingers.  If  we  could  do  better  work,  God 
knows  how  gladly  we  would  do  it." 

"  And  now,"  I  said,  getting  up,  "  I  at  least  have  had 
far  more  of  Guernsey  for  dinner  than  I  bargained  for 
when  I  sat  down.  Let  me  add  only  this  ;  no  one  can 
be  quite  as  conscious  of  his  failures  as  the  man  him 
self.  The  critic  cares  not  a  penny,  but,  oh,  how  much 
lie,  does  !  Unless  the  desire  is  beyond  control,  Miss 
Persis,  don't  —  don't ! " 

"  Don't  what  ?  "  Persis  asked,  a  trouble  in  her  eager 
eyes. 

"  I  do  not  know.  Be  a  —  a  —  woman."  I  knew  it 
was  a  meaningless  thing  to  say,  but  I  could  not  say 
anything  else  at  the  instant.  "  Miss  Rachel  ? "  I 
turned  as  I  said  it  to  her.  She  was  seated  as  when 
she  made  herself  comfortable  from  the  first  at  the 
table-cloth  spread  beside  her  upon  the  volcanic  rocks. 
Her  hands  still  slumbered  in  each  other  upon  her  lap. 
She  had  listened  with  her  invariable  kindness  and 
evident  good  sense,  her  eyes  as  steady  in  their  soft 
ness  as  were  those  of  Ross  Urwoldt  in  their  stern 
ness.  "  Miss  Rachel,"  I  said,  "  I  want  to  ask  a  favor 
of  you." 

"  What  is  it  ? "  she  said,  with  freshening  interest  as 
I  stood  nearer  to  her. 

"  Please,"  I  said,  —  "  please,  "please  do  not  become 
a  Madame  Genlis,  Recamier,  De  Stael ! " 

"  I  won't,"  she  assented  smilingly. 

"  They  were  noble  women,  grand  women,  powerful 


278  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

women,  but,"  I  persisted,  "  do  not  allow  your  coming 
to  our  city  to  make  a  Madame  Dudevant,  a  George 
Eliot,  a  Mrs.  Somerville,  least  of  all  a  Miss  Martiiieau, 
of  you.  You  will  promise  me,  Miss  Rachel  ? " 

"  I  promise  you."  She  said  it  with  a  sincere  laugh, 
her  eyes  lifted  to  mine  in  a  questioning  way,  doubtful 
as  to  how  far  I  was  in  joke.  Persis  was  looking 
fixedly  at  me  as  I  turned  away  and  began  gathering 
up  our  scattered  things  toward  going  home.  As  I 
came  to  know,  she  made  a  point  to  hunt  up  and  read 
to  Rachel  all  she  could  lay  her  hands  on  afterward  of 
the  lives  and  books  of  the  women  I  mentioned,  of 
other  women,  also,  whose  names  were  suggested  as  she 
read.  She  began  to  read  them  to  Rachel,  I  should 
say,  but  she  could  not  wait  to  do  so  at  last,  so  eager 
was  she  and  so  rapid,  so  much  time  did  she  give  to 
such  things. 

Our  skipper  had  been  shouting  to  us  to  come  for 
some  time ;  the  coachman  and  the  children  were  al 
ready  on  board  the  boat.  The  lighthouse-keeper  might 
have  strolled  —  Mrs.  Trent  suggested  that  he  probably 
would  —  down  from  his  rock  for  a  moment  to  bid  us 
good-by,  but  he  did  not.  That  was  his  loss,  as  well 
as  ours.  We  talked  about  fifty  things  as  we  adjusted 
ourselves  on  the  boat  to  thwarts  and  boom  and  centre 
board. 

"  We  have  neglected  the  children  shamefully,  and 
for  things  of  less  interest,"  I  said,  as  we  went  bowling 
before  a  good  breeze  up  the  harbor  homeward.  Jean 
and  little  Guernsey  had  their  strings  of  fish,  their 
demoralized  clothing,  their  renewed  appetite  to  be 


PICNIC.  279 

attended  to.  It  had  been  a  charming  day  to  us  all, 
but  we  endured  also  the  mild  disappointment  which 
comes  like  a  quieting  hand  upon  the  close  of  every 
excursion.  There  was  a  conflagration  in  the  west 
over  the  setting  sun,  perishing  like  an  Indian  Rajah 
upon  his  funeral  pyre.  The  water  darkened  through 
all  shades  of  gold  and  umber,  as  we  went,  into  a  deep 
bronze.  Steamers  were  coming  in  from  excursions, 
with  swarming  decks,  brass  bands,  flying  flags,  and 
surely  an  extravagant  use  of  their  whistles.  Pleasure- 
boats  of  all  sizes,  sail-boats  and  skiffs,  flitted  to  and 
fro  upon  the  water  as  we  neared  the  wharves,  with 
here  and  there  a  company  who  yielded  to  the  dispo 
sition  to  sing  which,  somehow,  comes  upon  every  man 
even  as  soon  as  he  is  afloat.  As  we  sped  along,  and 
the  darkness  began  to  fall,  I  saw  that  Eachel  was 
seated  in  the  stern,  her  hands  clasped  in  each  other, 
gazing  peacefully  upon  the  scene.  But  Persis  was 
standing  in  the  bow  of  the  boat,  holding  firmly  by  the 
mast,  looking  into  the  crowded  way  we  were  going, 
her  garments  on  the  wind. 

"  I  wish  the  young  lady  would  sit  down,"  the  skip 
per  grumbled  at  his  helm.  "  I  can't  see  how  to  clear 
the  craft  hereabout."  It  was  a  little  odd,  but  I  was 
thinking  something  of  the  same  kind  myself. 


280  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

A  LITTLE  VISIT. 

TN"  calling  upon  Persis  and  Rachel  I  often  saw  lying 
-*-  about  their  parlor  not  only  the  paper  which  Ross 
Urwoldt  edited  in  the  State  where  he  now  lived,  but 
other  journals  of  the  same  region.  Mrs.  Trent  ex 
plained  it  to  me.  "  Colonel  Urwoldt  is  an  old  friend," 
she  said,  "and  the  young  ladies  take,  naturally,  a 
deep  interest,  also,  in  the  condition  of  that  part  of  the 
country.  From  what  they  tell  me  I  should  say  that 
he  has  his  hands  full  in  trying  to  bring  order  out  of 
confusion  down  there." 

"  I  keep  myself  as  well  informed  as  I  can,"  I  re 
plied,  "  and  no  name  is  mentioned  in  connection  with 
affairs  in  that  section  as  often  as  his.  He  writes 
with  an  almost  savage  energy,  judging  by  the  editori 
als  of  his  which  I  have  seen.  He  seems  to  be  a 
leading  speaker  at  the  conventions  held  there ;  if  he 
speaks  with  as  trenchant  a  force  as  he  writes,  he  must 
be  a  power  for  good  among  his  people.  I  dare  say,  in 
his  public  speaking  as  in  his  editorials,  he  is  the  more 
powerful  in  that  he  indulges  in  personal  abuse  of  no 
man.  For  this  is,"  I  added,  "an  odd  thing  about 
Urwoldt,  —  he  rarely  alludes  to  persons,  to  persons  for 
or  against  him ;  it  is  of  lines  of  policy  he  speaks. 


A  LITTLE   VISIT.  281 

More  than  any  one  I  know  he  disdains,  despises  men  ; 
so  much  so  that  he  does  not  express  his  contempt,  it 
is  assumed  as  silent  matter  of  course.  To  him  great 
Nature  is  everything,  —  Nature  and  what  he  regards 
as  its  unswerving  laws  in  states  as  in  stars.  Men  and 
women  are  less  to  him  than  insects ;  they  are  that 
species  of  them  which,  unlike  all  other  creatures,  are 
untrue  to  the  laws  of  nature  in  them,  and  are  there 
fore  as  foolish  as  they  are  miserable.  But  he  does 
not  say  so.  He  is  Indian  in  his  silence  also,  Indian, 
too,  in  his  unswerving  endurance  and  persistence 
toward  his  end.  In  all  the  South  I  know  of  no  man 
who  has  clearer  views  of  what  is  essential  to  its  wel 
fare,  or  who  toils  toward  it  with  such  clear-headed 
energy.  If  he  lives  he  will  be  among  the  first  men 
there  of  the  coming  times  ;  he  may  climb  into  recog 
nition  by  the  North  also,  —  who  can  tell  ? " 

"  I  am  glad  to  know  it,  glad  for  her  sake  ! "  My 
excellent  friend  looked  at  me,  as  she  said  it,  as  one 
does  at  a  wounded  man  ;  but  I  did  not  ask  whether  it 
was  of  Rachel  she  spoke,  or  of  Persis.  "  I  fear,"  she 
added,  "  that,  unconscious  as  she  may  be  of  it,  Colonel 
Urwoldt  is  the  chief  motive  to  her  in  her  studies. 
What  a  girl  she  is  ! " 

"  So  she  is,"  I  said  as  I  rose  to  go.  "  But  it  must 
be  an  extraordinary  woman  who  can  capture  and  hold 
in  bonds  such  a  man  as  my  friend.  I  am  glad  to 
know  that  she  is  improving,  developing.  She  has 
need  to  do  so  if  she  is  to  outrun  the  degree  in  which 
he  is  every  day  becoming  more  intensely  —  Eoss 
Urwoldt." 


282  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Now  Mrs.  Trent  is  one  of  the  happiest  of  women 
in  her  married  life.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  think 
of  such  a  woman  as  unmarried.  Wherever  you  saw 
her  comely  face,  you  would  say,  "  I  not  only  know 
that  she  married  young,  but  I  can  tell  what  kind  of 
husband  and  children  she  has."  You  would  be  right 
if  you  were  to  add,  "  That  lady,  whatever  her  name  may 
be,  takes  the  pleasure  in  matching  people  —  no  one 
more  ladylike  in  her  way  of  doing  so  —  that  another 
style  of  woman  does  in  matching  silks.  Pleasure ! 
there  is  nothing  on  earth  which  she  enjoys  quite  so 
much  as  drawing  together  and  marrying  the  right 
man  to  the  right  woman,  if  they  be  of  the  very  few 
whom  she  cares  most  for.  Any  one  can  see  that  in 
one  glance  at  her  charming,  matronly  face."  "Which 
is  all  very  true,  so  true  that  I  knew  what  she  meant 
when  she  now  met  my  remark  about  Colonel  Urwoldt 
and  Miss  Persis  with  the  defiant  demand,  "  What  do 
you  mean,  Mr.  Guernsey  ? "  I  understood  her.  She 
was  defending  not  Ross  and  Persis  so  much  as  she 
was  her  plans  concerning  them. 

"My  dear  madam,"  I  explained,  "I  have  known 
Colonel  Urwoldt  for  many  years.  No  man  knows 
him  so  well.  I  have  said  that  he  thinks  little  of  men. 
Alas,  my  dear  lady,  he  thinks  even  less  of  women !  To 
him  they  are,  I  fear,  little  more  than  so  many  squaws. 
It  is  worse  than  that.  In  his  eyes,  so  far  as  women 
are  whiter  than  their  red  sisters  of  the  West,  by  that 
much  are  they  the  weaker  of  the  two.  As  your  hus 
band  has  told  you,  as  you  see  every  day  along  the 
streets  for  yourself,  nine  women  out  of  ten  have  at 


A  LITTLE   VISIT.  283 

least  the  appearance  of  invalids.  I  have  observed  it 
for  myself  at  the  suggestion  of  Dr.  Trent.  When 
Colonel  Urwoldt  was  here  I  could  not  help  mention 
ing  it  to  him  as  we  walked  the  city.  All  that  he 
replied  was,  '  Who  does  not  know  that  ? '  with  hardly 
a  glance  at  them." 

"Yes,  but,"  Mrs.  Trent  broke  in,  "ours  are  educated 
women,  —  educated,  sir !  Squaws,  indeed ! "  She  was 
almost  angry. 

"  Yes,  dear  madam,"  I  replied,  —  I  was  in  her 
parlor  at  the  time,  —  "but  my  unfortunate  friend 
thinks  that  as  increase  of  ease  to  women  is  but  in 
crease  of  indolence,  as  more  money  is  to  them  merely 
more  dress  and  jewelry,  so  of  their  education  even, 
the  more  they  know,  only  by  that  much  the  more 
are  they  —  shall  I  call  it  artful  ?  no,  artificial  is  the 
word." 

"He  is  worse  than  Mr.  Adair,  and  he  is  bad  enougli ! " 
Mrs.  Trent  said  ;  but  I  will  not  repeat  what  she  added 
in  that  connection.  It  was  not  safe  to  accept  her 
version  of  that  clergyman.  She  was  one  of  the  best 
of  women,  but  a  born  partisan,  and  the  very  warmth 
of  her  nature  gave  her  a  mortal  aversion  to  one 
whose  preaching,  she  averred,  was  as  cold  as  it  was 
brilliant.  "  It  is  as  uncertain,"  she  explained,  "  as 
many-colored,  as  variable  as  the  Aurora  Borealis."  I 
led  the  talk  back  to  Eoss ;  but  Mrs.  Trent  was  so  full 
of  what  she  feared  might  prove  the  seductive  power 
on  Persis  greater  than  any  other,  that  I  had  difficulty 
in  drawing  my  friend  from  Mr.  Adair  to  Eoss 
Urwoldt 


284  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  He  is  a  savage ! "  she  exclaimed  when  I  was 
through. 

"He  is  —  Eoss  Urwoldt,"  I  said.  "As  to  that, 
pardon  me,  madam,  but  his  mother  was  carefully 
educated.  Do  you  know,  Mrs.  Trent,  education  is 
not  always  a  thing  which  lasts.  A  woman  can  put  it 
on  and  off  like  a  muff,  or  a  pair  of  six-button  gloves, — 
they  have  six  buttons  sometimes,  don't  they  ?  I  know 
men  who  took  a  thorough  course  in  college,  and  yet,  ten 
years  after,  you  would  not  be  aware  of  it.  Sometimes 
it  is  drink  which  burns  up  the  brain  and  everything  in 
it.  In  others,  gluttony,  greed  of  money,  pure  laziness, 
uncultivated  companionship,  de-educated  them." 

I  might  have  told  her,  but  I  did  not,  that  I  knew 
at  least  one  man,  a  fine  scholar  at  college,  out  of 
whom  licentiousness  had  rotted  his  Latin,  Greek, 
mathematics,  as  utterly  as  it  had  his  purity.  What  I 
added  was  only  this:  "Few  women  are  better  edu 
cated  than  was  the  mother  of  lioss  Urwoldt;  few 
women  have  more  native  intellect,  not  one  in  a  thou 
sand  has  such  health,  and  yet  she  slid  back,  as  she 
grew  older,  into  very  nearly  what  she  was  before  she 
went  to  school.  Persis  knows  it,  knows  what  Ross 
thinks  of  women  in  general ;  and  it  is  this,  too,  which 
exasperates  her  into  the  effort  she  is  making." 

Thereupon  I  fell  to  asking  myself  how  far  Ross 
had  yielded  to  his  almost  Mohammedan  estimate  of 
woman  during  the  demoralization  of  the  war.  God 
knows ;  I  did  not.  I  came  nigh  asking  myself,  also, 
how  far  Persis  could  have  thought  of  such  things. 
She  was  the  one  woman  who,  knowing  the  life  of  his 


A  LITTLE    VISIT.  285 

disreputable  father,  knowing  Eoss  himself  so  long  and 
so  well,  was  capable  of  leaving  nothing  out  of  con 
sideration.  It  made  all  the  difference  in  the  world 
that  her  home  had  once  been  in  such  a  place  as  Ock- 
lawahaw,  and  not  in  the  city  where  she  now  was  ; 
that  the  strands  of  her  peculiar  strength  had  been,  if 
I  may  so  speak,  spun  and  woven  by  her  own  hard 
hands  there,  while  other  girls  were  growing  up  under 
soft  showers  and  loving  dews,  —  mere  flowers  which 
toiled  not  neither  did  they  spin.  But  I  said  nothing 
of  this  to  Mrs.  Trent. 

"  Don't  go,"  she  said,  as  I  kissed  Jean  good-by  and 
put  his  hat  on  the  head  of  little  Guernsey  to  take 
him  with  me.  And  then  she  resorted  to  a  subterfuge 
to  accomplish  things  she  thought  more  important. 

"  How  well  your  new  book  is  succeeding ! "  she  said,, 
and  added  many  kind  words.     To  me  any  topic  was 
better,  for  the  present,  than  the  one  we  had  been  upon. 

"  Thank  you,"  I  said.  "  Come  here,  please  ; "  and  as 
I  said  it  I  opened  the  front  door  to  go  out.  It  was 
winter  again.  There  were  six  inches  of  snow  on  the 
ground,  and  the  flakes  were  filling  the  air  as  they  fell. 

"  Do  you  know,"  I  said,  as  she  looked  out  beside 
me,  "  that  each  flake  is  a  wonder  of  beauty  in  its 
angles  and  curves  ? " 

"  So  Steven  showed  me  once  with  his  microscope," 
she  said,  drawing  her  shawl  closer  about  her  bosom. 
"  What  of  that  ? " 

"  Try  to  pick  out  with  your  eyes  and  follow  to  the 
earth  any  one  of  those  flakes.  Now,  my  dear 
madam,"  I  said,  "any  one  of  the  mass  of  ordinary 


286  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

authors  is  a  ninny  if  he  does  not  know  that  his  little 
book  is,  at  best,  but  as  one  flake  among  those  myriads. 
He  does  not  come,  do  the  utmost  he  can,  within  rifle 
shot,  as  Ross  would  say,  of  even  his  idea  of  excellency. 
However  he  may  toil  at  the  making  of  his  own  par 
ticular  flake  of  snow,  striving  at  least  toward  perfec 
tion  of  curve  and  angle,  what  is  his  handiwork,  at 
last,  but  one  of  a  storm,  so  to  speak,  of  books  ? 
These  have  their  seasons  as  brief  as  that  of  these 
fluttering  flakes.  After  that  what  befalls  ?  Look  at 
the  snow  on  the  ground.  Can  you  pick  your  favorite 
flake  out  of  that  ?  In  a  week  the  whole  mass  of  sep 
arate  flakes,  lost  into  the  rest,  will  have  been  ground 
under  wheels,  sleighs,  hoofs  of  horses,  feet  of  men, 
into  a  dirty  slush  which  will  disappear  before  the 
.  first  rain.  What  is  one  book  ?  How  long  does  it 
live  ?  What  definite  end  does  it  serve  ? " 

"  Our  talking  about  Colonel  Urwoldt  has  made  you 
resemble  him,"  Mrs.  Trent  laughed.  "  Suppose  your 
flake  is  lost  in  the  mass,  it  does  its  part,  does  n't  it  ? 
to  make  grass  greener  next  spring.  It  is  Rachel  who 
said  that." 

"  Rachel  ?     Persis,  you  mean." 

"  No,  Rachel  Not  that  she  has  read  your  book  as 
yet.  She  does  n't  care  very  much  for  books.  When 
Persis  reads  them  to  her,  she  listens.  Persis  reads 
to  her  a  great  deal  while  she  sews.  She  reads  so 
well  it  would  be  hard  not  to  listen.  Yesterday," 
Mrs.  Trent  went  on,  "  I  was  with  them,  and  Persis 
was  saying  what  a  pity  it  was  there  were  so  many 
books.  '  So  there  are/  Rachel  said,  '  but  I  suppose 


A   LITTLE    VISIT.  287 

each  book  does  its  share.'  And  then  she  said  that 
about  the  snow  and  the  grass.  She  is  not  as  ambi 
tious  a  girl  as  Persis,  but,"  Mrs.  Trent  insisted,  as 
so  often  before  and  after,  "a  more  sensible  and  a 
more  lovely  girl  I  never  knew.  If  Mr.  McAllister 
succeeds  in  winning  her,  he  will  have  an  admirable 
wife.  Sometimes  I  think  he  is  only  making  good 
friends  with  Rachel  in  order  to  have  her  help  him 
secure  Persis.  For  Persis  is  becoming  a  really  brill 
iant  girl.  I  never  saw  any  one  improve  so  fast." 

I  tried  to  bid  my  friend  good-by.  "  You  may  catch 
cold  standing  in  the  air,  and,"  I  remonstrated,  "  what 
will  the  Doctor  say  but  that  I  made  you  do  it  ? 
Come,  Guernsey.  What  you  need  is  a  new  sled, 
and  one  as  red  as  money  can  buy ;  let  us  go." 

But  Mrs.  Trent  would  not  release  us  yet. 

"You  would  have  laughed,  as  I  did,"  she  said, 
clasping  her  hands  together  under  Guernsey's  chin  as 
he  stood  with  his  back  to  her,  and  impatient  to  leave. 
"  I  happened  to  drop  in  on  Persis  and  Rachel  last 
week,  and  "  —  here  she  kissed  her  boy  to  quiet  him  — 
"  I  chanced  to  open  the  door  of  their  parlor  softly. 
Persis  was  seated,  her  face  from  me,  reading  one  of 
Robert  Browning's  poems  which  I  am  sure  nobody  can 
understand.  For  that  reason,  I  dare  say,  she  had  se 
lected  it,  and  she  was  reading  it  aloud.  Rachel  was  —  " 

"  For  that  reason  ?     What  reason  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Persis  thinks,"  Mrs.  Trent  explained,  "  that  what 
is  hardest  to  do  is,  for  that  reason,  the  thing  of  all 
others  which  she  must  do.  She  took  up  German 
during  her  last  vacation  to  keep  herself  awake,  for  she 


288  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

said,  she  was  very  sleepy  almost  all  the  time.  But  I 
was  speaking  of  the  day  I  called.  While  Persis  was 
reading  Eobert  Browning,  Rachel  was  seated  opposite, 
ripping  up,  if  you  care  to  be  told,  an  old  dress,  for  she 
is  very  economical.  There  are  hymns  one  never  tires 
of,  and  so,"  Mrs.  Trent  was  so  kind  as  to  inform  me, 
"  there  are  old  dresses  which  women  like  Rachel  and 
myself  never  tire  of  making  up  again  and  again. 
Never  mind  about  that.  Persis  was  reading  in  her 
animated  way,  and  Rachel,  her  eyes  on  her  work,  was 
listening  faithfully.  Yes,  faithful  is  the  word.  It 
does  not  matter  whether  she  likes  a  thing  or  not. 
Except  that  books  are  not  such  to  Rachel  until  Persis 
imposes  them  on  her  ;  whatever  is  a  duty,  that  Rachel 
is  faithful  to.  She  reminds  me  almost  of  a  —  yes," 
Mrs.  Trent  hesitated,  "  of  a  dog  in  that.  When  she 
saw  me  standing  in  the  door  she  said  like  a  child, 
'  Oh,  I  am  so  glad ! '  and  it  was  the  way  her  face 
brightened  that  made  me  laugh  !  '  It  is  very  good  in 
Persis  to  read  to  me/  she  told  me  when  her  friend 
left  us  for  her  music-lesson.  '  Persis  likes  it.  I  can't 
say  I  like  poetry.  I  do  not  like  it  simply  because 
it  is  poetry.  At  least,  not  very  much  of  it  at  a 
time.  If  poets  would  only  put  what  they  have  to 
say  in  fewer  words  !  Why  can't  they  tell  right  out 
what  they  mean,  and  be  done  with  it !  I  know  it  is 
wrong  in  me  to  say  so,  but  I  cannot  help  it.'  The 
poor,  dear,  good  girl  had,"  Mrs.  Trent  laughed,  "  such 
a  penitent  look  as  she  said  it  that  I  kissed  her  and 
told  her  she  felt  exactly  as  I  did.  And  I,  too,  Mr. 
Guernsey,"  Mrs.  Trent  said  defiantly,  "  would  rather 


A   LITTLE    VISIT.  289 

any  hour  hear  what  my  Jean  has  to  say,  what  little 
Guernsey  will  chatter  about  when  he  comes  back 
to-day  from  walking  with  you,  than  any  poet  dead  or 
living."  And  with  that,  she  let  us  go. 

As  has  been  said  before,  all  the  property  I  pos 
sessed  consisted  of  my  island  cotton-fields  off  the 
Carolina  coast,  which  I  leased  at  the  close  of  the  war 
to  an  East  Tennessee  man,  a  Mr.  Adkins.  For  a 
time  I  was  alarmed  lest  I  should  have  beggared  that 
gentleman  thereby,  for,  instead  of  sending  me  my 
rent  at  the  times  appointed,  he  wrote  me  so  cogent 
a  set  of  reasons  why  he  could  make  nothing  out  of 
my  fields  and  former  slaves,  that  my  chief  regret 
was  for  him.  I  was  afterward  to  learn  that  he  so 
applied  himself  to  his  new  venture  as  to  wring 
from  my  property  a  return  which  must  have  paid 
him  far  better  than  years  of  peddling  before  the  war, 
and  extortionate  sutlership  during  it.  This  I  knew 
nothing  of  at  the  time.  I  could  have  done  nothing 
then  if  I  had  known  it.  What  did  it  matter  ?  Not 
a  bit  of  a  fatalist  am  I,  and  yet,  as  I  might  have 
known  then,  the  corn  and  tobacco,  the  bacon  and  the 
beans,  upon  which  he  was  to  feed  were  in  a  process 
of  growth  for  him  not  more  inevitable  than  that  of 
the  switches  —  if  I  may  so  phrase  it  —  which  were 
to  whip  his  nakedness  in  due  time.  No  certainties 
more  certain  than  that !  Poverty  was  in  the  end  to 
be  a  greater  blessing  to  me  than  his  ill-gotten  gains 
were  to  Mr.  Adkins,  a  blessing  to  more  than  myself. 
If  the  roar  of  cannon  stimulated  Southern  men  to  des 
perate  bravery  during  the  war,  I  thank  God  that,  as 

19 


290  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

in  my  own  case,  the  dire  necessities  of  their  case 
when  the  fight  ended  were  such  as  to  keep  them 
aroused,  to  impel  them  to  yet  stouter  struggles  in  the 
way  of  hard  work  for  bread.  Shocking  as  it  may 
sound,  I  -am  glad  that  Southern  women,  also,  were 
awakened  thereby  to  an  exertion  which  lifted  them 
to  and  left  them  on  a  higher  level  of  beauty  and  of 
force  of  character  than  before. 

Like  many  a  better  man  from  among  them,  I  was 
obliged  to  work  very  hard.  Possibly  my  being  of 
New  England  blood  and  birth  enabled  me  to  accept 
and  adjust  myself  more  readily  to  matters.  I  lectured 
far  and  near,  wrote  for  the  daily  press,  was  secretary 
of  a  benevolent  society,  put  out  a  book  or  two  when 
I  could,  —  was  very  busy  from  January  to  December ; 
with  the  blessed  luxury,  as  the  result,  of  having  a 
few  dollars  to  give  away  to  those  who  were  worse 
crippled  than  myself  by  the  war.  Mrs.  Trent  had  set 
her  heart  upon  marrying  me  to  Persis  Paige.  I  often 
wondered  that  it  did  not  come  into  her  mind  that  I 
might  be  too  poor  to  marry,  —  it  would  have  been 
miserable  folly  for  me  to  speak  as  yet  of  marriage 
to  any  one. 

When  I  returned  to  my  hotel  after  seeing  little 
Guernsey  home  at  the  time  of  which  I  have  just 
spoken,  I  found  a  letter  lying  on  my  table  from  Ross 
Urwoldt.  He  wrote  very  rarely,  and  it  must  have 
been  his  letter  which,  in  connection  with  my  visit  to 
Mrs.  Trent,  produced  the  absurd  dream  I  had  that 
very  night.  I  thought  I  was  among  the  throngs 
which  crowded  the  benches,  tier  on  tier,  of  the 


A   LITTLE    VISIT.  291 

amphitheatre  at  Rome.  And  yet  it  could  not  have 
been  at  Rome,  for  we  were  come  together  to  see  a 
foot-race,  and  it  ought  to  have  been  out  in  the  fields 
at  Scyros  instead,  for  it  was  Atalanta  who  was  to  run, 
against  Hippomenes,  I  suppose.  As  is  always  the 
case  in  dreams,  it  was  all  over  in  an  instant.  It 
is  not  impossible  but  that  I  had  eaten  too  much 
supper,  for  the  Romans  crowded  me  dreadfully  as 
I  sat,  and  there  was  a  haze  as  of  dust  and  I  know 
not  what  difficulty  and  painful  effort  upon  the  scene. 
Hippomenes  flashed  past  me  as  I  looked.  And  yet  it 
could  not  have  been  he,  for  I  could  see  no  golden 
apples  in  his  hands  as  he  ran.  His  face  was  too 
cold  and  dark  for  that  of  a  lover,  and  he  seemed  to 
be  borne  on  like  an  image  in  the  hands  of  an  invisible 
force,  without  effort  or  eagerness  on  his  part.  As  he 
passed  out  of  sight  in  the  difficult  distance,  Atalanta 
sped  before  me,  upon  his  track.  She  was  kilted  for 
the  course,  her  hair  knotted  upon  the  back  of  her 
head,  her  arms  bare  to  the  shoulders,  a  dart  in  her 
right  hand.  Her  eyes  were  sparkling,  she  bent  for 
ward,  her  fair  forehead  was  beaded  with  her  effort. 
It  was  but  an  instant,  and  she  disappeared.  Then 
came  another  moment  of  hushed  suspense.  Then 
something  took  place  along  the  way  they  went.  I 
could  not  see  what  it  was ;  the  dust,  the  difficulty,  the 
pressure  upon  me  of  the  crowd,  was  such.  It  was 
something  that  filled  the  amphitheatre  with  —  was  it 
a  shout  or  a  shudder  ?  —  and  I  awoke.  The  only 
things  clear  to  me  were  the  set  faces  of  the  runners  \ 
one  was  Ross  Urwoldt,  the  other  Persis  Paige. 


292  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTEK  XXIV. 

A  RIDE   INTO   THE   COUNTRY. 

T  WAS  absent  from  the  city  for  some  time  after  Eoss 
-*•  Urwoldt  left  us.  Months  fled  by  without  my 
seeing,  hardly  hearing  from  or  of  my  friends.  At 
last  I  happened  to  have  a  day  or  two  to  spare  during 
one  of  my  swallow-like  returns  to  the  city,  and  my 
heart,  too,  came  back  to  those  for  whom  I  cared  most. 
The  habit,  however,  of  motion  was  still  upon  me,  and 
I  went  one  day  with  an  open  carriage  and  driver  to 
see  if  the  young  ladies  would  not  like  a  ride.  It  was 
an  afternoon  in  the  early  spring,  cool  but  summer-like. 
I  could  not  content  myself  in-doors  even  with  them, 
and  I  knew  that  they,  too,  ought  to  be  as  eager  to  be 
out  as  any  bird  or  bud. 

I  found  the  Eev.  Augustus  Marston  Adair  waiting 
to  see  Miss  Persis.  Like  everybody  else,  I  had  seen 
perpetual  mention  of  him  in  the  papers,  had  heard 
people  speak  of  him  very  often.  I  had  not  met  him 
before,  and  was  glad  of  the  opportunity,  so  much  the 
more  as  he  was  generally  believed  to  be  a  devoted 
admirer  of  the  lady  upon  whom  he  was  calling,  —  a 
fact  which  made  Persis  somewhat  of  a  city  celebrity. 
Mr.  Adair  was  an  undersized  but  admirably  propor 
tioned  gentleman.  His  clothing  fitted  him  like  a 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE  COUNTRY.  293 

glove,  as  did  his  peculiarities  of  tone  and  manner. 
He  had  small  quick  eyes,  sharp  and  black ;  his  hair 
was  cut  short  about  an  oval  forehead  ;  mustaches  of  a 
raven  hue,  and  waxed  to  a  point  upon  either  side, 
adorned  his  upper  lip.  He  had  a  breadth  of  chin  out 
of  proportion,  and  the  aid  lent  to  his  tongue  in  con 
versation  by  his  eyes  and  hands  gave  fourfold  force 
to  what  he  said. 

I  record  it  of  Rachel  with  gratitude  that  she  never 
kept  me  waiting. 

"  Persis  is  very  sorry,"  she  told  Mr.  Adair  and  my 
self  after  our  greetings  were  over,  "  but  she  cannot 
come  down  to-day.  She  is  not  well." 

"  I  hope  she  is  not  seriously  sick  ? "  Mr.  Adair 
asked. 

Rachel  hesitated  a  moment.  "  As  a  rule,"  she  said, 
"  Persis  was  never  so  well  as  she  is  now.  I  did  not 
think  she  could  endure  so  much  hard  work.  It  seems 
to  do  her  good.  You  would  be  surprised  to  see  how 
strong  she  is,  what  color  she  has ;  but  to-day  she  is 
suffering  from  one  of  her  terrible  headaches.  Last 
night,  as  is  often  the  case,  she  could  not  sleep.  She 
has  to  go  to  a  Teachers'  Institute  at  five,  and  has 
bandaged  her  eyes  and  lain  down  till  then,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  go.  She  will  be  very  sorry  to  miss  seeing 
you." 

Immediately  upon  her  coming  in,  Mr.  Adair,  in  a 
very  gentlemanly  manner,  turned  from  me  to  her.  "We 
had  introduced  ourselves,  and  he  was  talking  rapidly 
to  me  ;  but  his  interest  in  Persis  was  evident  from  the 
many  questions  he  now  asked  Rachel  concerning  her. 


294  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Interested  as  I  was  for  Persis  myself,  it  gave  me,  all 
the  more,  an  opportunity  of  understanding  her  lover. 
In  his  anxiety  for  her  he  was  at  his  best,  for  he  was 
his  genuine  self.  Inquiry  upon  inquiry,  he  poured 
them  upon  Eachel  in  regard  to  her  friend  iu  measure 
so  fluent  and  copious  that  I  could  see  it  was  but 
his  nature  to  do  so  when,  instead  of  Persis,  it  was  a 
religion  he  was  questioning  into.  So  interested  was 
he  to  hear  and  accept  what  Rachel  had  to  say  of  Per 
sis  that  he  allowed  her  time  to  answer,  listened  to 
her  with  his  eyes  also.  "When  she  left  the  room  to 
bear  a  message  from  him  to  Persis,  his  change  of  bear 
ing,  as  he  took  me  in  hand  from  where  he  had  dropped 
me,  was  great.  The  trouble  with  him  seemed  to  be 
that  he  had  been  everywhere  and  very  often,  that  he 
knew  everybody  and  everything  already  and  to  the 
utmost.  Although  his  unceasing  talk  consisted  largely 
in  asking  questions,  he  did  not  care  for  any  reply. 
Even  when  he  courteously  paused,  and,  for  courtesy's 
sake,  to  let  me  say  a  word,  it  was  so  plain  I  could  tell 
him  nothing  he  did  not  know  already,  and  perfectly, 
that  I  soon  subsided  into  silence,  glad  to  have  him 
say  all  there  was  to  be  said.  He  was  well  informed, 
spoke  admirably,  putting  his  sentences  into  epigrams, 
which  were  axioms  also.  His  talk  was  like  cham 
pagne,  his  eyes  and  hands  adding  so  much  of  sparkle 
and  movement  to  what  he  said ;  it  was  not  until  after 
ward  the  doubt  came  that  possibly  it  was  at  best  but 
the  effervescence  of  soda-water. 

In  a  little  while  Piachel  came  back,  and,  after  some 
words  of  unfeigned  regret  at  not  seeing  Persis,  Mr. 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE   COUNTRY.  295 

Adair  withdrew,  and  we  were  free  to  take  our  ride. 
This  much  I  can  conscientiously  say  for  my  com 
panion  that,  so  far  as  toilet  was  concerned,  she  was, 
apparently,  always  as  ready  for  company  as,  let  us 
say,  a  dove.  My  impression  was  that  she  dressed  as 
much  for  her  own  comfort  as  she  did  according  to  her 
own  taste.  It  was  her  nature,  and  one  could  detect  as 
little  to  criticise  in  her  simplicity  of  raiment  as  in  her 
sober  way  of  saying  and  doing  things.  That  was  the 
feeling  I  had  when  I  shook  hands  with  her,  that  there 
was  nothing  in  or  about  her  which  could  distract  my 
attention  from  her  best  self.  I  was  glad  of  it,  for  I 
had  but  a  little  while  to  be  with  her,  and  I  wanted  it 
to  be  as  much  a  time  of  quiet,  of  restful  enjoyment, 
as  possible ;  which  may  be  pardoned  in  me  when  it 
is  considered  that  I  am  too  restless  myself,  that  I  had 
been  all  winter  on  the  strain  of  travel,  lecturing,  writ 
ing,  mingling  with  unceasing  people. 

"  I  wish  —  "I  began,  but  controlled  myself  until 
Rachel  and  I  were  seated  in  the  carriage  and  it  was 
rolling  away.  But  she  asked  me  directly,  — 

"  What  do  you  wish  ? "  That  was  another  pecu 
liarity  of  my  companion.  When  Persis  or  Mrs.  Trent 
—  when  almost  any  one  else  was  present,  she  devolved 
the  conversation  upon  some  one  else  and  listened. 
What  she  did  say  was  the  word,  if  it  was  but  a  word, 
which  needed  to  be  said,  and  then  she  stopped.  I 
think  she  paid  the  close  attention  of  her  eyes  as  of 
her  lips  to  any  one  who  happened  to  be  speaking,  on 
the  same  principle ;  she  counted  upon  it  that  every 

trd  would  be  worth  hearing.     Her  attention  always 


296  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

had  the  effect  upon  me  of  causing  me  to  say  less  than 
I  otherwise  would,  and  to  make  what  I  did  say  bet 
ter  worth  the  expectant  eyes  which  so  waited  upon 
them.  "  You  said  you  wished  —  "  she  repeated. 

"If  it  were  not  that  it  would  make  it  too  blue,"  I 
replied,  "  I  wish  the  Teachers'  Institute  were  sunk  in 
the  sea."  Her  eyes  demanded  explanation,  but  also 
smiled  assent.  I  only  added,  as  we  wound  our  way 
through  the  crowded  streets,  "  Please  notice  one  or 
two  things,  peculiar,  I  think,  to  this  city,  as  we  go. 
Look  at  the  drivers  of  trucks,  carriages,  express- 
wagons, —  that  long,  low  vehicle,  for  instance,  coming 
this  way  laden  with  machinery,  every  horse  pulling 
with  a  grave,  determined  step,  as  of  a  dignified  gentle 
man,  —  each  of  these,  every  driver  of  a  street-car  also, 
acts  upon  the  rule  of  going  ahead  himself,  and  leaving 
the  other  man,  who  is  about  to  cross  his  track,  to  do 
the  reining  in.  The  dirtiest-faced  driver  of  them  all 
shows  an  unhesitating  assertion  of  self  which  you 
would  not  see  in,  say,  Brazil." 

"  And  yet,"  Rachel  said,  "  when  the  other  man  does 
halt  the  instant  before  the  wheels  would  otherwise 
strike  against  each  other,  did  you  ever  notice  with 
what  firmness  he  does  that  too  ? " 

"  That  is  another  thing ;  that,"  I  said,  "  is  the  habit 
of  obedience,  too,  to  the  inevitable.  Look  at  this 
police-officer  at  the  crossing,  how  he  arrests  the  cur 
rent  of  carriages  and  wagons  until  the  crowd  accumu 
lated  at  the  corners  can  go  over !  The  blue-coated 
Moses  has  but  to  hold  out  his  silent  switch,  and  the 
Red  Sea  of  hurry  and  confusion  parts  before  it  as 


A  RIDE  INTO   THE  COUNTRY.  297 

by  miracle.  Nowhere  do  I  find  self-assertion  so  de 
termined,  and  yet  so  obedient  to  law,  as  here." 

"  Yes,"  Rachel  said,  for  we  had  to  stop  awhile,  the 
throng  was  so  great ;  "  and  I  often  wonder  at  the  man 
lier  in  which  people  give  way  to  each  other  along 
the  crowded  sidewalks.  Men  and  women  are  all  in 
such  haste,  mixed  up,  going  in  opposite  directions, 
yet  they  curve  in  and  out,  and  just  miss  striking 
against  each  other  beautifully.  It  is  like  —  " 

"  A  kind  of  music,"  I  said  for  her ;  for  when  one 
has  to  talk  to  an  audience  so  much,  one's  facility 
of  wording  things  becomes  too  prompt  for  politeness. 
"  Another  thing,  please  notice,"  I  went  on,  "  and  that  is 
that  the  women  outnumber  the  men  thirty  to  one." 

"  That,"  Rachel  explained,  "  is  because  the  women 
are  shopping,  or  out  for  exercise ;  the  men  are  in 
offices,  shops,  factories,  ships.  Many  of  these  are 
countrywomen  who  have  come  in  to  buy  things ;  their 
sons,  brothers,  husbands,  are  at  work  in  the  barns  and 
fields.  Then  there  are  more  women  than  men  in  this 
part  of  the  world ;  at  least,  so  they  say.  You  don't 
object  to  that,  do  you,  Mr.  Guernsey  ? " 

"  Not  at  all.  But  that  brings  up  a  question  we 
won't  spoil  our  ride  by  talking  about.  Look  at  those 
people,"  and  I  motioned  with  my  head  toward  a  man 
and  woman  who  were  going  by;  "you  never  saw 
rougher  folk  than  those  even  in  Ocklawahaw." 

"  No,"  she  said ;  "  but  then  we  did  not  have  as  nice 
people  there  as  you  see  here.  Men  and  women  grow 
old  here  more  beautifully  than  they  do  there.  Persis 
and  I  were  talking  only  yesterday  of  how  many 


298  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

noble-looking  old  gentlemen  we  see  eveiy  time  we 
are  on  the  streets,  they  are  so  erect  and  fresh-colored. 
Not  a  day  but  we  see  some  dear  old  grandmother 
with  a  complexion  like  that  of  a  girl  of  sixteen." 

"  Her  hair,"  I  added,  "  upon  either  side  of  her  fore 
head  in  puffs  of  drifted  snow.  I  fall  in  love  with 
such  every  time  I  take  a  walk.  They  belong,  I  fear, 
to  a  generation  which  is  going  out." 

By  this  time  we  were  beyond  the  more  crowded 
streets,  and  were  rolling  along  rapidly  toward  the 
country.  I  changed  my  seat  so  as  to  sit  opposite 
my  companion.  It  was  delightful  to  me  to  find 
myself  with  an  audience  of  but  one ;  but  I  remained 
didactic.  "  If  you  were  to  put,"  I  said,  "  what  this 
city  used  to  be  into  flesh  and  blood,  it  would  stand 
before  you  in  the  old  lady,  the  stately  old  gentleman, 
we  have  been  speaking  of.  Even  now  it  is,  in  many 
respects,  the  best  town  I  know  of." 

"  Is  it  ? "  Eachel  asked  it  with  interest,  yet  com 
posure.  When  in  Ocklawahaw  she  was  entirely  con 
tented,  could  have  lived  and  died  there  without  a 
wish  to  get  away.  She  felt  in  the  same  way  about 
her  present  abode.  Hers  was  a  nature  which  adjusted 
itself  as  silently  and  perfectly  to  its  situation  as  water 
to  a  cup,  and,  from  the  first,  she  took  her  new  life 
so  much  as  matter  of  course  that,  except  for  the 
use  of  a  peculiarly  Western  word  now  and  then,  you 
would  have  said  she  had  been  born  here.  "  Yes,  I 
like  it,"  she  now  added,  sinking  back  upon  her  seat 
with  an  air  of  comfortable  possession ;  "  its  streets 
may  be  crooked,  but  they  are  clean.  There  are  so 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE   COUNTRY.  299 

many  school-houses.  "What  fine  large  horses  they 
have  even  in  the  street-cars.  I  like  sleek  horses. 
And  there  are  such  nice  policemen.  And  the  con 
ductors  on  the  cars,  too ;  you  see  some  of  them  who 
are  genuine  gentlemen,  who  seem  as  if  they  were 
taking  fares  for  a  week  or  two  until  they  could  get 
back- into  the  higher  positions  to  which  they  be- 
long." 

"  Out  West,"  I  added,  "  you  can  tell  whether  a  re 
gion  is  malarious  or  not  by  a  glance  at  the  first  child 
you  meet.  In  the  same  way  you  can  judge  of  this 
city  by  its  boys ;  they  appear  to  the  merest  stranger 
who  passes  them  along  the  street  to  be  unusually  in 
telligent  and  yet  under  wholesome  control.  Every 
ragged,  barefooted  little  Irish  Mickey  even  seems  to  be 
in  the  grasp  of  an  unseen  hand,  —  is  it  the  police  or 
the  public  school  ?  perhaps  both.  But  why  is  it,"  I 
demanded,  for  my  mind  was  running  too  much  upon 
that  subject  at  the  time,  —  "  why  is  it  that  so  many  of 
these  women  seem  to  be  invalids  ?  Notice,  as  we 
go,  how  many  girls  wear  eye-glasses.  There  is  a 
child  of  ten  in  spectacles.  Yonder  is  a  lady  who 
is  the  picture  of  health  ;  but  she  is  in  a  carriage,  her 
coachman  in  livery.  Must  a  woman  be  rich  to  be 
well?" 

My  companion  did  not  know  it,  but  in  that  case 
there  was  no  lady  who  seemed  to  be  richer  than  her 
self.  Her  Scriptural  name  helped  toward  it,  I  sup 
pose  ;  but  if  she  had  worn  a  coal-scuttle  bonnet  and  a 
drab  silk  you  would  have  sworn  that  she  was  the  only 
child,  so  healthful  and  serene  was  she,  of  a  wealthy 


300  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Quaker.     Her  eyes  were  gone  from  me  with  an  atten 
tion  which  clung  about  each  woman  in  passing. 

"  Why  are  there  so  many  sick  women  ? " 

It  was  of  myself  I  asked  it,  but  Eachel  answered 
thoughtfully,  "  I  suppose  it  must  be  the  climate.  Per 
haps  it  is  hard  work,  anxious  care.  Often  it  is  heredi 
tary.  Sometimes  they  study  too  hard." 

She  was  thinking  of  Persis.  So  was  I.  For  the 
present,  however,  my  interest  was,  by  contrast  with 
the  overtasked  women  of  whom  we  had  been  speak 
ing,  with  Eachel  herself.  As  it  always  did,  her  dress 
became  her,  especially  her  hat  or  bonnet.  To  me  a 
badly  arrayed  woman  attains  to  the  climax  and  sum 
mit,  in  every  sense,  of  wretched  taste,  when  she 
crowns  the  Himalaya  of  her  heaped-up  hair  with 
one  of  the  barbarous  hats  common  then  and  now. 
But  Eachel  wore  a  head-dress  of  which  I  only  knew 
that  it  answered  its  ends  and  completed  her  attire. 
"  I  should  n't  wonder  if  Mrs.  Trent  told  her  how 
much  I  would  like  just  that  style  of  hat,"  I  said  to 
myself  in  my  self-conceit.  "  But  how  could  anybody 
have  known  that  I  would  call  upon  Miss  Eachel  to- 
day?" 

"  Eachel  is  ruled  by  Persis  in  her  studies,  but  she  is," 
Mrs.  Trent  had  told  me  one  day,  "  more  determined 
than  you  would  think  in  everything  else.  In  her 
toilet,  for  instance,  she  will  not  listen  to  a  soul.  In 
everything  except  their  studies  it  is  she  who  rules 
Persis." 

There  was  a  smile  upon  the  lips  of  Eachel  as  I 
was  thinking  cf  this,  and  her  eyes  were  full  of  fun. 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE   COUNTRY.  301 

After  a  while  it  broke  into  a  laugh.  "  Mr.  McAllis 
ter  was  telling  us  last  night,"  she  said,  "  of  something 
he  saw  in  the  city  yesterday.  A  drove  of  cattle  was 
landed  at  the  wharves.  One  of  them  escaped.  Mr. 
McAllister's  office  is  in  an  upper-story  front,  and 
he  saw  it  all.  The  ox  came  up  the  street  in  a  fury. 
Mr.  McAllister  never  before  saw  such  horns,  he  said ; 
they  were  so  long,  so  wide  apart.  The  animal  tore 
along,  emptying  the  street  before  it.  The  police-offi 
cers  fled,  men  in  wagons  put  the  whip  to  their  horses 
and  galloped  them,  the  wagons  bumping  over  the 
cobble-stones.  Women  ran  out  to  pick  up  their  chil 
dren.  Men,  women,  boys,  shrieked,  dodged  into  door 
ways  and  down  alleys,  and  fled  every  way  for  dear  life. 
The  great  brute  was  master  of  the  situation.  With 
its  tail  in  the  air,  dashing  right  and  left  with  its 
frightful  horns  at  dogs  and  men,  it  disappeared  up  the 
street,  clearing  out  the  city  before  it.  Mr.  McAllister 
said  it  was  infamous  ! " 

Rachel  told  about  it  demurely  enough ;  but  there 
was  a  mirth  in  her  lips,  an  almost  triumph  in  her 
eyes,  which  gave  me  a  new  idea  of  her.  "  It  was  a 
shame  for  me  to  do  so,  Mr.  McAllister  was  shocked ; 
but  I  only  laughed,"  she  went  on,  "  when  he  told  me. 
The  ox  was  direct  from  the  Southwest.  I  could  not 
help  taking  sides  with  the  ox.  I  would  not  have  it 
hurt  anybody ;  but,"  she  laughed,  "  it  was  not  accus 
tomed  to  anything  but  prairies,  it  did  not  understand 
cities.  Was  it  very  wrong  in  me  ? " 

"  But  what  has  that,"  I  assented,  "  to  do  with  —  " 
"  With  the  advantages  of  the  city."     She  carne  back 


302  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

to  sobriety  in  an  instant.  "  Only  this.  Persis  never 
wearies  of  saying  what  an  admirable  place  it  is.  Such 
schools,  lectures,  concerts,  art  institutions,  public  libra 
ries,  intellectual  people.  She  says  that  the  atmos 
phere  is  electric.  So  it  is.  No  city  is  more  fortunate. 
I  am  glad  we  came.  But,  Mr.  Guernsey,"  she  pleaded 
like  a  child,  "  do  you  not  sometimes  think  —  I  am 
not  a  student  like  Persis,  as  you  know.  I  try  very 
hard,  but  I  cannot  like  philosophies  as  much  as  she 
does.  It  may  be  my  lack  of  intellect ;  but,  Mr.  Guern 
sey,  do  you  not  think  —  " 

I  was  curious  to  understand  her  more  than  to  com 
prehend  merely  what  she  was  objecting  to,  and  left 
her  unassisted.  "  What  I  mean,"  she  said,  "  is  this  : 
do  you  not  think  that  in  this  city  education,  the  esti 
mate  of  intellect  is  carried  too  far  ?  " 

"  In  one  city,"  I  suggested,  "  money  is  everything ; 
in  another,  the  denomination  of  Christians  you  be 
long  to ;  in  another,  good  birth.  What  you  mean  is 
that  here  the  extreme  to  which  people  go  is  the  ex 
cessive  appreciation  of  talent,  literary  ability,  school 
ing  in  all  its  degrees.  Miss  Rachel,"  I  exclaimed, 
and  her  face  brightened  at  my  energy,  "  you  are  right ! 
I  am  glad  you  agree  with  me."  And  I  launched  into 
denunciation  of  excessive  study,  especially  for  women, 
in  a  way  which  would  have  ruined  me  for  life  had  I 
been  upon  the  platform  instead.  "  Don't  you  think 
so,  Miss  Rachel  ? "  I  asked  in  the  end.  "  Provided 
no  one  was  more  than  badly  scared,  you  would  not 
care  if  something  fresh,  like  your  big  ox,  from  nature 
were  to  dash  in  upon  things  and  scatter  them  for 
a  while.  Is  n't  that  so  ? " 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE  COUNTRY.  303 

My  companion  laughed,  agreeing  with  me  with  her 
eyes,  but  shaking  her  head.  "  Is  not  that  a  delightful 
home  ? "  she  asked,  pointing  to  a  house  we  were  pass 
ing,  and  reverting,  as  she  always  did,  from  people, 
unless  they  were  being  praised,  to  things.  Our  road, 
hard,  white,  swept,  and  watered,  was  perfection  itself, 
and  the  hoofs  of  our  horses  rang  merrily  upon  it  as 
we  went.  On  either  hand  were  residences,  each  in 
its  own  environment  of  spruces  or  elms,  horse-chest 
nuts  or  apple-trees,  which  told,  some  of  them,  of 
ancestors  extending  back  through  four  generations. 

"  When  the  house,"  I  said  to  Eachel,  "  like  this 
next  one,  for  instance,  destitute  of  trees,  is  particu 
larly  large  and  fine  and  new,  it  tells  us  of  an  owner 
who  blends  in  himself  the  grim  industry  of  a  century 
ago  with  the  taste  and  expenditure  of  to-day.  The 
suburbs  are  the  best  half  of  the  city.  They  are  to 
the  city,  what  his  charming  wife  is  to  her  husband, 
the  red-faced,  quick-mannered,  energetic  business 
man.  You  see  that  the  wife  is  beginning  to  put  on 
her  spring  attire.  See  the  tender  gray  green  of  the 
leaves  about  to  unfold  on  the  tips  of  wayside  shrubs. 
And  what  a  peculiar  hue  the  grass  has  !  In  compar 
ison  to 'what  it  will  have  as  the  summer  comes,  it  is 
like  the  colorless  water  at  the  edge  of  the  sea  along 
the  sands,  in  contrast  to  the  darkening  blue  as  it 
deepens  into  the  depths.  There  is  the  same  uncer 
tain  tremor,  as  between  winter  and  summer,  in  the 
air  also.  You  feel  as  if  you  wanted  to  throw  yourself 
summerward,  and  help  it  in  the  struggle." 

"  I  like  it,"  Eachel  said,  "  without  —  "     I  had  to 


304  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

wait  for  her  to  end  the  sentence.  She  was  unlike 
Persis  in  that.  Persis  completed  in  her  own  mind 
what  you  had  yet  to  say  before  you  got  through.  Her 
reply  waited  almost  impatiently  for  you  to  be  done. 
Not  so  with  Rachel.  She  went  with  you  to  the  very 
end  of  your  remark.  If  it  was  in  answer  to  the 
simplest  question,  she  did  not  reply  on  the  instant, 
there  was  a  moment's  hesitation  before  she  spoke.  I 
could  see  her  answer  coming  in  her  eyes,  on  her  lips, 
before  it  framed  itself  into  words,  and  I  enjoyed  her 
slowness  as  one  does  a  lisp.  It  had  weight  in  it  as 
of  value ;  it  rested  me  to  tarry  for  it. 

"  I  like  the  season,"  Rachel  said,  "  without  imagin 
ing  things  about  it,  without  putting  what  I  think  into 

—  thoughts.     Persis  reads  poetry.     When   she   sees 
anything  which  interests  her  very  much,  it  always 
reminds  her  of  what  some  author  has  said  about  it. 
I  know  I  ought  to  take  more  pleasure  than  I  do  in 
what  gifted  people  have  written.     As  it  is,  I  like 
things,"  she  colored  a  little  in  trying  to  phrase  it, 

—  "  like  things,"  she  said,  "  as  they  are.     Yes." 

It  was  all  she  added  by  way  of  assent,  as  the  driver 
reined  in  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  I  waved  my  hand 
as  I  stood  up  toward  the  landscape.  To  our  left  were 
villages  by  the  dozen,  homes  peeping  by  the  hundreds 
through  the  trees  and  from  behind  the  hills.  I  wanted 
to  tell  my  companions  that  the  church  spires  here, 
there,  everywhere,  were  like  marks  of  interjection, 
exclamation  amid  the  unheard  life  going  on  so  abun 
dantly  below  us ;  but  I  was  held  silent  by  her  silence 
as  she  feasted  upon  the  scene.  Off,  and  from  our  very 


A  RIDE  INTO    THE   COUNTRY.  305 

feet,  toward  the  right,  was  the  ocean,  entering  into  and 
receding  from  the  land,  to  come  again  in  bays,  inlets, 
harbors ;  while,  farther  to  the  right,  the  watery  ex 
panse  was  diversified  with  little  islands,  and  a  mos 
quito  swarm  of  sailing  craft,  large  and  small,  through 
which  a  black-hulled  steamship  from  Europe  was 
intent  upon  its  way,  leaving  behind  it  a  long  wake 
of  smoke  above  and  billows  beneath.  Here  and  there 
a  flag  fluttered  from  masthead  or  fort,  mere  vibrant 
dots  of  color,  the  sky  of  fleecy  blue  over  all,  until 
ocean  and  air  blended  into  one  in  the  dim  horizon. 

Had  it  been  Mrs.  Trent,  more  so,  had  it  been 
Persis,  we  would  have  talked  to  each  other  without 
ceasing,  pointing  out  this  and  that,  demanding  admi 
ration  for  one  thing  or  another.  Persis  would  have 
been  in  a  fever  of  enjoyment,  new  color  in  her  talk 
as  in  her  cheeks,  but  Rachel  sat  and  looked  upon  the 
scene  in  silence.  Keenly  as  Persis  enjoyed  music,  I 
had  observed,  when  we  were  at  the  opera  together, 
or  in  the  concert  hall,  that  the  very  best  music  merely 
stimulated  her  the  more  to  speech,  as  it  did  me. 
Then,  as  now,  Rachel  could  not  do  two  things  at  a 
time.  She  had  such  a  fashion  of  giving  herself 
utterly  up,  now  as  always  to  what  was  in  hand,  that 
I  left  her  to  herself.  Her  face,  I  noticed  yet  again, 
was  broader,  the  brows  particularly,  than  that  of 
Persis  ;  her  large  eyes  rested  upon  what  she  looked  at, 
not  glancing  hither  and  thither,  as  those  of  her  friend 
would  have  done.  The  hands  of  Persis  would  have 
been  as  active  as  her  eyes,  but  I  never  knew  Rachel 
to  gesticulate.  If  I  did  not  know  how  much  more 

20 


306  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

efficient  she  was  in  nursing  the  sick,  in  housekeeping, 
in  everything  except  books,  than  Persis,  I  would  have 
said  she  was  but  a  Circassian  beauty,  fair  and  round 
and  lazy. 

"  Upon  the  whole,"  I  remarked,  "  I  like  this  city 
beyond  any  I  have  visited  in  Europe  or  America.  It 
is  inhabited  by  people  each  one  of  whom  is  a  distinct 
individual,  and  yet  the  blending  of  all  into  one  is  so 
perfect  that  the  city,  as  a  city,  is,  beyond  any  other, 
itself  a  definite  and  very  distinct  person.  People 
have  their  faults  here  as  everywhere.  You  cannot 
help  seeing  that  a  little  success  in  literature,  for 
instance,  has  the  effect  upon  some  which  wealth  has 
on  others ;  they  hold  themselves  as  aloof  as  possible, 
touching  you  with  but  the  tips  of  dainty  fingers. 
Courtesy  is  cultivated  as  sugar  is  in  Cuba.  Yet  the 
preoccupation  is  so  intense  at  times  that  it  will  show 
through.  It  may  be  because  it  contains  treasure,  but 
how  often  it  is  a  man's  house  and  heart  here  are  as 
a  fortress  !  It  reminds  one  of  the  rich  Jews  in  Ori 
ental  countries.  When  it  is  a  question  of  buying 
and  selling,  the  Jew  lives  in  the  open  doorway  of  his 
shop,  is  upon  the  sidewalk,  eager  to  greet  whoever 
comes.  So  far  as  business  goes,  a  man  is  as  accessi 
ble  in  his  counting-house  here  as  men  are  anywhere. 
As  to  his  home,  that  is  another  affair.  The  Hebrew 
makes  the  exterior  <rf  his  house  as  unpromising  as  he 
can,  from  dread  of  tax-gatherer  and  thief.  Ouce 
within  it,  you  are  dazzled  by  the  display  of  wealth 
and  enjoyment.  So  of  these  people.  Apart  from 
business,  the  aspect  of  the  man  in  this  region  is  cold 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE   COUNTRY.  307 

and  almost  repellent ;  but  if  you  are  welcomed  within, 
to  his  home,  to  his  heart,  you  are  delighted  at  the 
wealth  you  will  find  there,  —  the  wealth  of  friend 
ship  and  love.  Except  in  externals,  it  is  absurd  to 
say  that  they  are  a  cold  people.  They  are  so  intense 
at  first  in  regard  to  any  matter  which  interests  them 
that,  in  a  little  while,  they  are  as  intensely  tired,  dis 
gusted  even,  with  the  whole  thing.  Woe  to  the  sen 
sation,  whatever  it  is,  man  or  thing,  which  imagines 
it  can  have  and  lose  and  then  have  again  the  popu 
larity  it  once  enjoyed !  The  city  is  like  a  boy  who  so 
gorges  himself  at  first  with  a  new  kind  of  candy 
that  he  sickens  forever  after  at  the  very  sight  or 
smell  thereof." 

"Not  where  principle  is  concerned,"  Eachel  in 
sisted. 

"  Certainly  not !  And  it  is  very  curious  ;  I  know 
npthing  like  it  elsewhere.  Here  principle  means 
person.  In  political  matters,  for  instance,  at  the 
first  blast  of  the  trumpet  it  is  not  merely  that  every 
man  of  them  falls  into  line,  eager  for  the  fray ;  if  you 
look  at  the  warriors,  lo,'  it  was  the  resurrection  trump 
instead,  for  here,  as  if  in  cocked  hats  and  knee- 
breeches,  are  their  revolutionary  sires  once  more ! 
The  youngest  man  reverts  instantly  to  his  great-grand 
father,  is  himself  that  ancestor  to  the  tips  of  his 
fingers ! " 

"  Is  that  true  in  religion  also  ? "  Eachel  demanded ; 
but  slowly  added,  "  I  think  that  in  regard  to  books 
these  people  are  almost  —  would  it  be  too  strong  to 
say  it  ?  —  almost  fanatical.  Persis  and  I  are  thrown, 


308  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

in  our  classes  at  the  conservatories  of  music,  in  the 
art-rooms,  libraries,  and  the  like,  with  girls  who  are 
destroying  their  eyes  by  night  study.  They  know  it ; 
they  know  everything  ! "  Rachel  sighed.  "  But  they 
say  they  cannot  help  it.  They  will  no  more  stop, 
they  can  no  more  stop,  than  if  they  were  opium- 
eaters.  Many  of  them  are  ruining  their  health !  I 
am  so  afraid  for  Persis.  I  used  to  have  influence 
over  her ;  in  this  I  have  none." 

"  Yes,"  I  said ;  "  we  agree  that  greed  of  money  is 
sordid.  As  if  greed  for  knowledge,  except  as  a 
means  to  some  noble  end,  is  anything  but  another 
kind  of  gluttony !  It  is  vulgar  for  a  man  to  get 
drunk  on  whiskey,  yet  I  know  men  and  women  who 
intoxicate  themselves  more  utterly  on  the  champagne 
of  excessive  literature,  excessive  science,  excessive 
intellectual  stimulus,  —  it  does  not  matter  of  what 
kind.  Do  you  know  what  has  become  of  their  old- 
time  fanaticism  in  religion  ? " 

My  companion  put  so  much  of  deepening  interest 
in  her  eyes  that,  as  our  vehicle  toiled  slowly  up  a  long 
hill,  I  could  not  refrain  from  becoming  a  bit  of  a  ped 
ant.  "  The  great  discovery  of  our  times,"  I  said,  "  is, 
as  you  have  had  lectures  enough  since  you  came 
here  to  know  very  well,  the  conservation  and  cor 
relation  of  force.  That  is,  there  is  the  same  amount 
of  force  in  these  people,  for  instance,  as  always,  only 
it  takes  different  forms,  goes  in  different  directions. 
A  century  or  two  ago,  they  rushed  with  excessive 
energy  toward  things  divine.  To-day,  there  is  the 
same  measure  of  desperate  effort  to  know.  The  only 


A   RIDE  INTO    THE  COUNTRY.  309 

difference  is  of  direction,  of  object.  What  they  ve 
hemently  attempt  now  is  to  know  anything,  every 
thing,  except  what  was  accepted  by  their  grandfathers. 
The  intensity,  the  fanaticism,  of  effort  is  the  same." 

"  You  think  then,"  Kachel  asked  it  almost  timidly, 
"  that  a  person  can  try  too  hard  to  know  things,  to 
be  highly  educated  ? " 

"  Miss  Rachel,5'  I  said,  "  you  ought  to  use,  ought  to 
develop  all  you  can,  the  vigor  of  your  arm  and  hand. 
Now,  your  intellect  is  but  another  sort  of  arm  and 
hand,  by  which  you  can  reach  after,  can  grasp  and 
hold,  certain  things.  It  is  your  duty  and  mine  to 
develop  our  intellect  so  far  as  we  can  do  so  without 
neglect  of  any  other  part  of  us.  If  I  attend  to  my 
body  to  the  neglect  of  my  mind,  I  am  a  fool.  If  I 
care  for  my  intellect  in  such  a  way  as  to  neglect  and 
injure  my  body,  I  am  but  another  species  of  fool.  Be 
sides,  the  highest  objects  of  desire  are  as  much  beyond 
the  reach  of  the  intellect  as  they  are  of  the  hand. 
Surely  I  am  the  greatest  fool  of  all  if  I  become  so 
absorbed  in  the  care  of  either  body  or  intellect  as  to 
neglect  that  noblest  part  of  me,  for  which  body  and 
intellect  exist,  by  which  I  alike  feel  and  know  in  a 
way  and  to  a  degree  beyond  everything  body  and 
mere  mind  are  capable  of." 

I  could  see  that  Rachel  was  not  thinking  of  her 
self  nor  of  me.  She  did  not  look  at  the  houses  or 
fields  on  either  side  of  our  road  as  we  rolled  smoothly 
along. 

"  You  were  speaking,"  she  said,  "  of  the  fanaticism 
of  excessive  education.  People  used  to  be  fanatics 


310  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

for  faith ;  is  it  not  possible  that  they  may  grow  to  be 
fanatical  against  faith  ?  Mr.  McAllister  was  saying 
so  last  week  He  has  no  interest  in  matters  outside 
of  his  office.  He  does  not  believe,  I  am  afraid,  in 
anything;  but  we  have  all  sorts  of  people  at  our 
boarding-house,  and  they  will  get  to  discussing  things 
at  the  table  until  the  lady  of  the  house  has  to  beg 
them  to  go  up-stairs  and  let  the  servants  clear  the 
cloth.  Last  week,  after  listening  awhile,  they  became 
so  violent  that  he  said  to  them,  '  You  know  I  do  not 
go  with  any  of  you,  but  I  've  made  the  rounds  of  your 
halls  and  circles,  and  you  radicals  are  the  most  dog 
matic  of  all  the  people  I  know.  It  is  a  blessed  thing 
that  no  two  of  you  agree,  or  you  would  burn  us  be 
lievers  in  a  twinkling  ! '  He  meant  himself  and  me," 
explained  Eachel ;  and  I  fear  that  the  Major  said  it 
largely  to  conciliate  her.  "  But  I  am  so  sorry,  Mr. 
Guernsey  —  " 

She  said  no  more,  but  Mrs.  Trent  had  told  me 
about  it,  and  I  exclaimed,  "  So  am  I,  Miss  Eachel ! 
very  sorry ! " 

"  When  we  first  came,"  she  went  on  after  a  little, 
"  Persis  could  not  go  to  church  often  enough.  She 
must  hear  this  wonderful  man  and  that  until  she  had 
heard  everybody.  For  a  long  time  she  took  great 
interest  in  it.  She  would  come  back  full  of  enthu 
siasm  ;  whatever  she  heard  was  something  so  new,  so 
deep,  so  beautiful,  so  brilliant.  And  no  two  of  the 
speakers  were,  she  said,  in  the  least  alike.  '  It  is  part 
of  my  education  to  hear  them/  she  said.  Now  she  is 
through  with  it  all." 


A   RIDE  INTO   THE   COUNTRY.  311 

"  And  does  not  go  anywhere  on  Sundays  ? " 

"  But  she  is  so  very  tired,"  Rachel  said.  "  If  you 
knew  how  hard  she  works  all  the  week !  She  has  a 
high  position  as  a  teacher  now,  is  paid  a  good  salary ; 
but  the  text-books  change  almost  every  terra,  she 
must  keep  far  ahead  of  her  pupils.  On  Sundays  she 
always  has  a  headache.  Dr.  Trent  has  given  her 
medicine.  And  you  cannot  think  how  he  talked  to 
her ! "  Rachel  said  to  me  with  large  eyes.  "  He 
scolded  her  until  she  cried.  But  she  must  work !  She 
is  the  most  conscientious  girl  I  ever  knew." 

"  I  'in  afraid,"  I  said  gravely,  "  that  hers  is  some 
thing  like  the  diseased  conscience  of  a  devotee,  Catho 
lic  or  Buddhist." 

"  Oh  no,  how  can  you  say  so  ! "  And  my  companion 
went  into  the  warmest  praise  of  her  friend.  I  had 
never  seen  her  so  earnest.  She  did  not  hint  such  a 
thing,  but  I  had  gathered  from  Mrs.  Trent  that  the 
terror  of  Eachel  was  lest  Persis  should  lose  her 
Christian  belief.  "  If  there  ever  was  a  Martha,"  Mrs. 
Trent  had  told  me,  "  it  is  Persis,  —  a  Martha  who  toils 
with  her  brain,  I  mean.  She  is  not  consciously  self 
ish,"  Mrs.  Trent  explained,  "  she  is  so  eager,  so  igno 
rant  she  thinks,  there  are  so  very  many  things  to 
learn,  so  very,  very  many  things  to  do,  that,  beyond 
any  housekeeping  Martha  I  know,"  laughed  Mrs. 
Trent,  "  she  is  careful  and  cumbered  about  much  — 
not  serving  exactly,  but  work,  harder  work  than  the 
Syrian  Martha  ever  dreamed  of.  Rachel,"  Mrs.  Trent 
mused  aloud  at  the  time,  "is  Mary  instead.  But  it  is 
in  Persis  you  are  chiefly  interested.  Mr.  Guernsey," 


312  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

she  said  with  new  energy,  "if  God  ever  made  a 
woman  for  a  man,  he  made  Persis  Paige  for  you ! 
Your  tastes,  your  interests,  are  the  same.  I  am  sure 
she  will  do  anything  you  say.  Dr.  Trent  can  do  noth 
ing  with  her.  There  is  no  man  she  admires  as  she 
does  you.  Use  the  authority  of — of  the  affection 
you  must  feel  for  her,  Mr.  Guernsey,  and  insist  upon 
her  having  more  mercy  upon  herself.  I  want  her  to 
be  a  true  wife  to  you  for  many  a  long  year ! "  But 
it  was  nothing  less  than  her  motherly  care  for  me 
which  allowed  Mrs.  Trent  to  say  as  much. 

But  I  was  suddenly  brought  back  from  thinking  of 
what  she  had  said. 

The  one  serpent  in  the  Eden  of  the  suburbs  through 
which  we  were  returning  is  the  Railway ;  its  trail  is 
over  it  all.  Our  driver  must  have  been  new  either  to 
that  fact  or  to  his  horses.  As  we  made  a  sudden 
turn,  a  locomotive  thundered  by  on  one  side,  the  driver 
fell  off  the  box  in  the  swerving  of  the  vehicle,  and  our 
horses  ran  away  with  us !  I  am  not  strong,  but  I 
used  at  least  to  be  something  of  a  squirrel  in  alert 
ness.  With  a  word  of  caution  to  Rachel,  I  clambered 
into  the  vacated  seat,  and  gathered  up  the  reins, 
which,  fortunately,  had  not  quite  slipped  off  the  dash 
board.  I  dare  say  it  was  more  oats  than  alarm  which 
inspired  the  horses,  for  they  were  making,  although 
at  full  speed,  for  the  city.  The  instant  problem  with 
me  was  how  to  hold  them  in,  yet  keep  my  seat ;  but 
in  that  instant  it  was  solved.  My  companion  had 
climbed  into  the  front  seat  below,  had  snatched  off  a 
shawl  she  wore  as  protection  against  the  coolness  of 


A  RIDE  INTO    THE   COUNTRY.  313 

approaching  evening,  had  passed  it  about  me  as  I  sat, 
and,  kneeling  upon  the  seat,  was  pinioning  me  by  the 
shawl  to  my  post  with  a  grasp  as  of  iron,  and  all 
without  an  exclamation.  If  it  had  not  been  for  that, 
I  must  have  been  rocked  off  my  perch  by  the  swing 
of  the  carriage,  or  pulled  under  the  heels  of  the  horses 
by  the  reins  to  which  I  clung.  As  it  was  I  was*  en 
abled,  planting  my  feet  more  firmly,  to  put  such  a 
steady  strain  upon  the  reins  as  at  last  to  draw  the 
animals  down  into  a  trot,  a  walk,  a  halt. 

The  whole  affair  was  like  a  landscape  seen  by  a 
flash  of  lightning ;  there  was  a  good  deal  of  it,  but  it 
was  soon  over.  I  did  not  look  into  the  carriage  until 
our  driver  came  limping  up,  all  the  broader  of  brogue 
for  the  accident.  As  he  mounted  upon  his  box  he 
was,  to  conciliate  me,  I  suppose,  as  loud  in  his  praises 
of  my  dexterity  as  in  anathemas  upon  the  locomotive, 
the  horses,  and  especially  himself. 

I  was  almost  as  curious  to  see  Rachel  as  if,  since  I 
last  saw  her,  she  had  been  in  Europe.  Yet,  on  look 
ing  at  her  as  we  sped  along,  there  was  nothing  to  see 
beyond  her  former  self.  She  was  seated  as  comforta 
bly  as  before.  Her  shawl  was  thrown  back  from  about 
her  shoulders,  since  she  was  warm  enough  now  with 
out  it.  There  was  less  color  in  her  cheeks,  but  her 
eyes  were  the  same.  I  had  all  the  disposition  a  some 
what  excitable  man  would  naturally  have,  to  say  a 
good  deal  by  way  of  commendation,  explanation,  con 
gratulation,  joke  even,  but  I  know  that  I  said  most 
of  it  to  myself,  and  not  aloud.  She,  I  think,  had  less 
to  say  than  I. 


314  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTEE  XXV. 

RIVALS. 

T  HAD  my  own  reasons  for  urging  Ross  Urwoldt  to 
-*-  visit  me.  There  came  an  adjournment  of  Con 
gress,  I  believe,  an  arrest  of  some  sort  upon  his  busi-J 
ness  in  Washington,  where  he  happened  then  to  be, 
and,  at  last,  he  came.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival 
we  called  upon  the  young  ladies,  but  found  that  they 
were  not  in  the  city.  Persis  had  been  compelled  to 
lay  aside  her  work  and  they  had  gone  into  the  coun 
try  with  friends  for  a  little  rest,  but  I  took  Ross  with 
me  to  see  Dr.  Trent  and  his  wife. 

The  instant  we  entered  the  house  I  saw  that  Mrs. 
Trent  was  almost  as  much  upon  the  alert  as  if  my 
friend  were  a  savage  intent  on  slaughter.  It  was  not 
because  he  was  of  Indian  lineage.  There  was  really 
so  little  of  any  other  than  the  blood  of  the  white  man 
in  his  veins  that  it  was  only  the  higher  qualities  of 
character  and  few  of  the  mere  bodily  traits  of  the 
Indian  which  Ross  retained.  No  gentleman  in  her 
knowledge  was  more  thoroughly  such,  few  had  his 
intellect,  none  the  experiences  of  men  and  of  war 
which  made  him  what  he  was.  His  silent  and  fixed 
attention  to  Mrs.  Trent  when  she  spoke  took  the  place 
in  him  of  that  deference  to  her  sex  which,  I  fear,  he 


RIVALS.  315 

did  not  possess  to  the  degree  he  should  have  done. 
Had  I  known  it  then,  I  might  have  seen  that  he  was 
so  attentive  to  her  because,  for  the  moment,  she  was 
to  him  his  nearest  approach  to  Persis.  But,  now  as 
always,  it  was  never  of  Persis  he  spoke,  it  was  always 
of  Rachel. 

I  think  it  was  this  which  alarmed  Mrs.  Trent  most. 

It  was  not  for  him  she  intended  Persis.     Her  whole 

heart,  dear  lady,  was  up  in  arms  for  me  instead.     She 

j.>was  alarmed  at  his  coming.     Persis  was  away,  but 

%,,she  must  be  on  her  guard  to  defeat  his  nefarious 

schemes. 

"  Persis  and  Rachel  have  made  many  friends  during 
their  stay  here,  many  warm  friends,"  she  said  with 
some  emphasis.  "  I  am  glad  that  some  of  these  have 
taken  them,  it  was  almost  by  force,  to  their  farm. 
Rachel  does  not  need  it;  she  looks  well,  is  well 
always ;  but  she  will  enjoy  herself  there  as  she  does 
everywhere.  Persis  was  in  great  need  of  a  change. 
What  with  teaching  and  being  taught,  she  is  like  a 
factory  girl  tending  her  loom ;  she  has  to  be  on  her 
feet  all  day,  and  must  be  on  the  alert  always,  lest  any 
of  her  many  threads  should  tangle  or  break.  You 
will  be  delighted  to  see  Rachel,"  Mrs.  Trent  added 
with  sudden  interest ;  "  she  is  looking  so  well,  Colonel 
Urwoldt,  and  she  will  be  delighted  to  see  you.  Persis 
has  time  from  her  studies  for  hardly  anything ;  but 
I  have  heard  Rachel  speak  of  you  very  often.  As  to 
Persis,  it  is  a  pity  —  " 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  pity,"  Dr.  Trent  began ;  but  his  wife 
frowned  at  him,  laughed,  shook  her  head.  The  mild- 


316  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

mannered  physician  was  a  tyrant  among  his  female 
patients,  gentle  as  he  seemed  to  be  in  tone  and  touch  ; 
but  Mrs.  Trent  avenged  her  sex,  for  I  doubt  if  his 
most  submissive  patient  yielded  to  him  as  he  did  to 
her. 

I  turned  Eoss  over  to  Mrs.  Trent  for  the  rest  of  our 
visit.  She  was  such  a  warm-hearted,  frank-spoken, 
bright-humored  matron  that,  with  little  Guernsey  on 
one  side  of  her,  and  golden-haired  Jean  on  the  other, 
she  could  not  fail  to  interest  my  friend,  she  was  so^ 
much  interested  in  him  and  in  Rachel.  It  was  little 
he  cared  for  any  woman  but  one,  yet  Mrs.  Trent,  with 
her  happy  face  and  ready  laugh,  was,  in  comparison 
to  city  ladies  in  general,  as  an  open  wood  fire  is  to  an 
iron-latticed  register  highly  polished  and  set  in  mar 
ble.  If  any  one  could  make  him  feel  at  home,  she 
could. 

"  Yes,  it  is  a  pity."  Dr.  Trent  finished  what  he  was 
intending  to  say  when  he  and  I  were  by  ourselves  in 
his  study  that  night.  "  I  am  called  in  occasionally  to 
minister  to  nuns  in  convents.  Their  sickness,  poor 
things,  is  because,  neglecting  body  and  mind,  they 
abandon  themselves  too  much  to  the  care,  as  they  call 
it,  of  their  souls.  More  frequently  too  than  you 
think,  a  foolish  girl  so  gives  herself  up  to  loving  some 
perhaps  worthless  fellow  that  her  excess  of  affection 
in  and  by  itself  disturbs  the  balance,  and,  while 
over-developing  her  heart,  as  it  is  styled,  she  endan 
gers  herself  in  every  other  way.  Look  at  Persis. 
Almost  from  the  hour  of  her  coming  I  have  had 
her  under  treatment.  This  mania  for  self-culture 


RIVALS.  317 

is  often  as  much  an  epidemic  as  measles  or  whooping- 
cough.  The  vessels  of  the  brain  can  be  over-distended, 
over-stimulated,  by  excess  of  study  as  by  whiskey.  If 
the  stomach  is  not  equally  inflamed,  it  is  greatly 
weakened  ;  but  the  injured  organ  is,  chiefly,  the  brain. 
The  veins  are  so  habitually  distended  by  the  excess 
of  blood  during  application  too  great,  too  long  con 
tinued,  that  when  the  stimulus  of  study  or  liquor 
ceases  they  cannot  contract.  That  in  either  case  is  the 
-cause  of  reaction,  of  craving  for  excitement.  If  we' 
i'liad  time,"  and  the  Doctor  unlocked  the  rosewood  case 
thereof  as  he  spoke,  "  I  could  show  you  under  my 
microscope  a  section,  my  dear  fellow,  of  a  drunkard's 
brain  which  proves  what  I  say.  What  do  you  sup 
pose  that  is  ? "  And  he  took  from  a  shelf  and  held 
up  before  me  a  small  jar  of  liquid  with  something 
suspended  in  it. 

"A  pickled  clam,  I  should  think,"  was  my  con 
jecture. 

"  A  clam  !  That,  sir,"  the  Doctor  said  in  triumph, 
"is  a  section  of  the  brain  of  the  inventor  of"  —  and 
he  named  a  patented  discovery  too  well  known  to 
allow  of  its  being  mentioned  in  this  connection. 
"  He  had  a  large  brain,  the  veins  were  beautifully 
distended ;  but  there  were  a  good  many  of  us  students, 
and  it  had,"  he  added  regretfully,  "to  be  divided 
among  us.  He  devoted  years  of  severe  study  to  his 
contrivance,  succeeded  in  it,  was  swindled  out  of  it. 
In  a  burst  of  rage  he  slew  the  man  whom  he  supposed 
did  it,  was  imprisoned,  killed  himself,  and  his  body 
came  into  our  hands.  Had  he  been  an  intemperate 


318  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

man,  the  alcohol  would  have  consumed  the  stomach 
and  hardened  the  brain.  As  it  was,  the  blood  aban 
doned  the  stomach  to  dyspepsia,  and  so  habitually 
enlarged  the  vessels  in  the  brain  that  they  could 
not  recover  themselves.  You  have  felt  ennui  from 
somewhat  the  same  cause ;  if,"  suggested  my  friend, 
his  finger  and  thumb  upon  the  stopper,  "  you  would 
like  to  see  ennui  under  the  microscope  — "  But 
I  declined. 

"  Guernsey,"  the  Doctor  complained,  replacing  the 
jar  and  putting  the  key  of  the  case  in  his  vest  pocket, 
"  I  at  least  ought  to  know  something  about  women." 

"  If  any  man  does  !  "  I  was  right  in  exclaiming  it. 
The  truth  is,  it  was  sympathy  for  suffering  which  had 
led  this  friend  of  mine  into  medicine.  Once  in  it,  he 
had  given  himself  to  the  study  of  feminine  maladies, 
because  he  found  that  it  was  women  who  suffered 
most.  With  his  study  and  practice,  his  sympathy 
had  grown  into  a  science  so  clear  that  a  female  pa 
tient  could  no  more  resist  him  than  a  school-girl  can 
resist,  distasteful  as  it  may  be,  the  Rule  of  Three.  I 
dare  say,  had  he  not  been  rich,  and  therefore  inde 
pendent  of  his  practice,  he  would  not,  with  all  his 
sympathetic  certainty,  have  dared  to  be  as  peremptory 
with  women  as  he  was.  People  knew  that  he  was  a 
physician  largely  from  love  of  and  success  in  his  pro 
fession,  and  none  of  his  brethren  had  a  reputation,  in 
that  region,  and  in  his  own  line,  to  compare  with  his. 
Had  female  practitioners  been  as  common  then  and 
as  well  qualified  as  they  are  now,  they  could  not  have 
been  as  successful  as  was  Dr.  Steven  Trent;  for  under 


RIVALS.  319 

no  conceivable  circumstance  can  a  woman  fear  and 
obey  a  woman  as  she  does  a  man. 

"  I  do  not  understand  the  sex,"  he  now  proceeded, 
"  but  I  know  as  much  of  it  as  most  people.  Now,  a 
woman  has  within  her  two  citadels,  into  either  of  which 
she  can  retreat  and  defy  the  world.  The  one  is  her 
heart,  and,  back  of  that,  her  will.  If  you  can  enlist  her 
heart  against  her  will,  or  her  will  against  her  heart,  you 
may  persuade  her,  —  induce  her,  I  mean,  to  persuade 
herself.  Let  a  woman,  keeping  her  health,  and  con- 
'  sequently  her  beauty,  up  to  the  highest  point,  carry 
on,  also,  and  carry  out  the  equal  development  of  her 
heart  and  her  mind,  and  she  will  become  that  of 
which  Aspasia  was,  I  presume,  but  a  feeble  prophecy, 
—  a  human  being  worthier  of  love,  respect,  adoration 
almost,  than  any  other  object  on  the  planet.  But  — 
but,"  argued  the  Doctor,  "if  her  heart  be  held,  by 
herself  or  by  circumstances,  in  abeyance  while  her 
life  runs  almost  entirely  into  the  expanding  and  in 
forming  of  her  intellect,  then  her  will,  already  strong 
enough  in  virtue  of  her  sex,  gets  to  be  so  strong  that 
she  is  beyond  argument.  A  theory,  it  matters  not  a 
straw  what  it  is,  takes  to  her  the  place  of  a  babe ; 
she  exaggerates  it,  idolizes  it,  spoils  it,  will  fight  to 
the  death  for  it,  as  she  would  for  an  only  child. 

"  No  man,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  has  a  higher  estimate 
of  woman  than  myself.  My  wife,  for  instance,  is  "  — 
for  Mrs.  Trent  was  his  one  weakness  ;  I  did  n't  blame 
him  — "  as  superior  to  myself  in  sense  as  she  is  in 
personal  beauty.  But  truth  is  more  to  me  than  even 
my  own  wife ;  and  I  do  know  that  there  is  no  loveli- 


320  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

ness  in  a  woman,  any  more  than  in  a  circle,  unless 
she  has  symmetrical  development.  We  call  them 
angels.  Whatever  we  do  not  know  about  angels,  we 
do  know  that  they  are  not  lop-sided.  Crop  one  of  the 
wings  of  a  dove  or  eagle,  and  you  will  see,  when  it 
tries  to  fly,  what  I  mean." 

"  But  what  about  Miss  Persis  ? "  I  asked. 

"Persis  is  a  favorite  case  of  mine.  On  some  ac 
counts,"  the  Doctor  remarked  with  the  coolness  of  the 
dissecting-room,  "I  hope  she  will  continue  to  disregard 
what  I  say.  I  want  to  study  the  inevitable  result. 
No,  I  don't  mean  that !  She  is  a  noble  girl,  a  gifted 
girl.  Her  improvement  delights  me,  as  it  does  us  all ; 
but  I  wish  she  would  hold  up  a  little.  If  she  were 
less  of  a  student,  and  more  like  my  wife,  like  Miss 
Rachel,  it  would  be  better  for  her." 

"  I  do  not  know  about  that.  Listen.  Last  Wednes 
day  afternoon  I  was  riding,"  I  rejoined,  "  in  the  street 
cars.  It  was  sufficiently  pleasant,  and  we  rode  in 
an  open  car.  As  usual,  we  were  all  of  us,  the  men 
at  least,  in  a  hurry,  —  some  to  get  home,  some  to 
keep  business  appointments,  some  to  catch  the  train. 
There  sat  a  little  terrier-faced  man  beside  me,  —  you 
can  count  their  sharp  noses  by  the  thousand  all  over 
the  city,  —  and  once,  when  the  bell  struck  and  the  car 
stopped,  he  said,  '  Confound  her  ! '  with  so  much  vigor 
that  I  looked  up  and  saw  who  he  meant.  It  was 
Miss  Each  el.  She  was  standing  upon  the  curbstone. 
If  she  had  been  in  a  drawing-room  instead,  she 
could  not  have  been  more  cool,  composed.  She  was 
not  going  to  risk  her  clean  skirts,  to  say  nothing 


RIVALS.  321 

of  her  person,  among  the  rush  of  wheels.  Not  until 
the  car  stopped  and  the  way  was  clear,  did  she  leave 
the  curbstone.  I  helped  her  on,  seating  her  pur 
posely  beside  the  growling  terrier." 

"  Yes  ;  that  is  it ! "  my  friend  broke  in.  "  We  agree 
that  Americans  are  thin  and  haggard  because  they 
run  themselves  down,  eat  too  fast,  talk  too  fast,  go 
too  fast  in  everything.  Everybody  acknowledges  that 
dyspepsia  and  defalcation,  heart-disease  and  softening 
of  the  brain,  speculations,  panics,  and  suicide  are  the 
result.  Why,  sir,"  exclaimed  the  Doctor,  "it  is  for 
that  women  are  made !  When  they  go  as  fast  as  the 
men,  God  help  us !  Now  that  religion  seems  to  be 
loosening  its  grasp  upon  men,  rather  now  that  men 
are  breaking  from  its  hold,  if  \vornan  cannot  restrain 
them,  if  she  swaps  her  sex  for  theirs,  like  the  miser 
able  girls  who  used  to  drag  coal-trucks  on  all  fours  in 
English  mines,  and  plunges  into  the  pell-mell  with 
men,  then  are  we  gone  indeed  to  the  devil ! 

"  But  no,  sir!"  cried  the  Doctor;  "antidote  always 
accompanies  poison.  Cinchona  grows  in  the  centres 
of  chill  and  fever !  Because  Americans  are  the  most 
excitable  and  headlong  of  people,  therefore  is  it 
tli  at  —  and  it  is  becoming  our  sole  safeguard  —  in 
America  women  are  most  had  in  reverence.  I  like 
Miss  EacheL  She  represents  the  staying  power, 
the  —  " 

"  She  stopped  our  street-car,  at  least.  And,"  I  said, 
"  as  she  stepped  deliberately  on  board  and  seated  her 
self,  not  a  man  of  our  perspiring  crowd  but  was  the 
better  for  it.  It  restored  every  soul  of  us  to  civiliza- 

21 


322  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

tion  simply  to  see  her."  And  so  the  doctor  and  I 
turned  the  conversation  into  a  discussion  of  the  chances 
in  reference  to  Miss  Rachel  of  her  persistent  admirer, 
Major  McAllister.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  Dr.  Trent 
took  as  gospel  whatever  his  wife  had  imparted  to  him 
concerning  that,  and  it  was  a  good  deal. 

"  How  does  Mr.  Adair  succeed  with  Miss  Persis  ? " 
I  demanded,  after  a  little ;  for,  through  his  wife,  Dr. 
Trent  could  not  help  knowing  about  that  also. 

"  I  would  think,"  the  Doctor  said  in  the  end,  very 
innocently,  "  that,  of  all  men,  Mr.  Adair  would  be 
most  to  her  taste.  Like  herself,  he  grew  up  far  from 
cities  and  under  the  most  old-fashioned  of  influences. 
He  also  has  educated  himself  through  poverty  and 
struggle.  You  can  see  how  determined  he  is  by  a 
glance  at  his  chin.  It  is  a  queer  combination ;  look 
here  !"  And  the  doctor  made  a  rapid  sketch  with  pen 
cil,  upon  the  blotter  of  his  table,  of  the  head  of  the 
gentleman.  "  See,"  he  said,  "  what  a  towering  cra 
nium  he  has,  egg-shaped  like  Shakespeare,  like  Haw 
thorne.  Phrenology  is  a  humbug ;  none  the  less,  that 
oval  head  signifies  imagination,  ideality.  But  look 
at  the  jaw  going  with  it ;  it  is  that  of  a  bull-dog." 

"  Some  one  told  me  his  history,  the  other  day,"  I 
said.  "  When  he  began  he  was  an  ardent,  even  big 
oted  preacher  of  the  old-fashioned  faith.  He  was  a 
handsome  fellow,  unmarried,  fond  of  society ;  he  had 
read  everything,  was  an  able  man  and  unusually  elo 
quent.  Slowly  came  a  change.  He  was  praised, 
thronged  about,  quoted.  I  suppose  you  would  say, 
Doctor,  that  it  was  a  struggle  between  brain  and  jaw ; 


RIVALS.  323 

your  wife  would  tell  you  that  the  strife  was  between 
head  and  heart.  According  to  your  craniology,  while 
the  massive  base  held  him  down,  the  top  of  his  head 
lifted  him  like  an  inflating  balloon.  But  the  ap 
plause  increased  until  it  prevailed,  and  lifted  him  out 
of  and  clean  over  his  ecclesiastical  fence.  He  has 
landed  a  dozen  times  since.  Each  time  he  is  sure  he 
is  finally  right,  for,  wherever  he  goes,  he  takes  those 
vigorous  jaws,  you  would  say,  with  him.  Now  you 
mention  it,  he  is,  although  of  small  frame,  like  a 
mastiff,  an  unsleeping  mastiff  in  vigilant  charge  of 
the  premises.  It  has  come  to  be  the  law  of  his  life 
that  affirmation  arouses  denial.  Assertion,  almost 
any  positive  assertion,  is  to  him  a  burglarious  tramp 
which  he  assaults  on  sight.  His  incessant  '  Not  so  ! 
not  so !  not  so  ! '  is  more  monotonous  than  the  bow 
wow-wow  of  Towser.  Alas  !  bark  as  fiercely  as  he 
may,  he  backs  and  backs,  as  he  barks,  toward  the  end 
and  edge  of  everything,  —  is  forced  backward  as  by 
the  incessant  violence  of  his  denials.  The  first  thing 
he  knows,  over  he  goes,  falls  whirling  round  and 
round  through  the  empty  air,  and  is  forgotten  from 
among  men.  Meanwhile  he  reads  everything,  goes 
everywhere,  meets  everybody,  knows  to  its  last  anal 
ysis  positively  every  opinion  men  have  ever  held. 
Old-fashioned  folk  slumber  upon  their  assumptions, 
and  there  is  an  energy  in  his  pugnacity  which  people 
like.  He  is  said  to  be  very  good  to  the  poor." 

"  It  amuses  me,"  Dr.  Trent  laughed,  —  "  the  horror 
my  wife  and  Miss  Rachel  have  of  him.  And  yet,"  and 
his  face  sobered,  "I  hardly  blame  them.  Once  only 


324  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

did  I  meet  Mr.  Adair.  It  was  by  the  bed  of  a  dying 
lady,  one  of  his  parishioners.  When  I  came  in  she 
had  hold  of  Mr.  Adair's  hand  with  both  of  hers,  and, 
her  hollow  and  eager  eyes  fastened  upon  his  face,  was 
listening  to  what  he  was  saying  to  fit  her  for  death. 
While  combating  something  said  by  the  dying  woman, 
Mr.  Adair  assumed  that  her  fears  were  purely  phys 
ical,  that  the  old-fashioned  religion  was  so  utterly 
obsolete  these  days  that  nobody  believed  in  it.  I 
thought  of  the  hundreds  of  millions  the  world  over 
to  whom  that  religion  is  the  chief  motive  in  life,  the 
sole  consolation  in  sorrow,  and  wondered  at  the  cool 
assumption  of  the  man.  Because  he  did  not  believe 
no  man  did.  Having  shut  his  own  eyes,  there  was 
nothing  seen  by  anybody  ! 

"  Mr.  Adair,"  added  the  Doctor,  "  shows  excellent 
taste  in  admiring  Miss  Persis  as  he  does.  He  would 
marry  her  if  he  could.  His  latest  and  strongest  con 
victions  are  in  reference  to  her.  It  is  no  laughing 
matter  that  she  is  breaking  away  from  all  persuasion. 
Guernsey,"  he  continued,  "  Miss  Persis  has  been  seri 
ously  affected.  Her  nervous  condition  has  alarmed 
me  more  than  once.  What  good  does  it  do  to  cut  off 
her  tea  and  coffee,  to  limit  her  to  raw  beef  and  stale 
bread,  to  warn  her  against  drinking  too  much  water 
at  her  meals  and  taking  too  little  exercise  ?  She 
merely  tries  to  make  up  for  obeying  me  by  more  in 
tense  application.  She  will  not  be  controlled." 

"  If  a  lover  were  eloping  with  her,"  I  said,  "  we 
might  stop  her,  you  think ;  when  it  is  an  Idea  which 
is  running  away  with  her,  we  can't,  especially  if  her 


RIVALS.  325 

Idea  takes  the  shape  of  eloquent  Mr.  Adair.  But  no, 
sir,  I  have  a  plot  to  prevent  it  which  I  will  not  con 
fide  to  you ;  you  could  not  keep  it  from  your  wife  to 
save  your  life.  For  we  cannot  afford  to  have  her 
marry  Mr.  Adair.  If  she  were  to  marry  a  Methodist 
preacher,  her  life  would  be  one  of  perpetual  change, 
but  change  of  that  sort  would  be  a  trifle  compared  to 
the  breaking  up  and  change  she  would  have  to  un 
dergo  as  Mrs.  Adair.  Did  you  ever  see  a  picture, 
Doctor,  of  Francisca  di  Rimini  and  her  lover,  Dante's 
Francisca  ? " 

"  Of  course  I  have,"  he  replied. 

"  The  pathos  of  it  is  not,"  I  explained,  "  that  the 
erring  couple  are  linked  forever  together,  but  that,  as 
Dante  puts  it,  the  two  are  afloat  forever  upon  scorch 
ing  winds.  Imagine  a  hell  of  that  sort,  the  unrest 
of  ardent  and  eternal  guessing,  each  one  sufficiently 
aflame  already  with  consuming  intellectual  effort,  and 
yet  mutually  exciting  each  other  to  more  desperate 
conjecturing  still !" 

At  this  moment  a  messenger  came  in  haste  for  Dr. 
Trent ;  a  lady  was  taken  ill  somewhere.  He  bade  me 
good-by  and  went  out  merely  to  come  back  again. 

"  I  am  the  most  forgetful  of  men  !  Mrs.  Trent  has 
told  me  of  it  a  dozen  times,  but  I  have  so  many 
things  on  hand  I  forgot  it !  Guernsey,"  the  Doctor 
said,  taking  my  hand  in  his,  "  you  must  excuse  and 
pardon  me  ! " 

"  Pardon  you  ? "  But  I  felt  that  the  blood  was  in 
my  cheeks  as  he  stood  there. 

"Yes,  yes.     I  forgot  completely,"  apologized  the 


326  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

Doctor,  "  for  I  am  so  busy,  what  my  wife  told  me 
about  you  and  Miss  Persis.  Forgive  me.  I  ought  not 
to  have  spoken  of  her  case  so  freely.  Aha,"  he 
laughed,  "  that  is  why  you  are  so  hard  upon  poor 
Adair.  And  you  have  a  plot  to  defeat  him,  have 
you  ?  Good,  I  congratulate  you,  my  dear  fellow  ! " 
He  shook  me  cordially  by  the  hand.  "  What  a  fool  I 
was  to  forget  such  a  thing !  It  is  so  natural,  too.  She 
is  a  splendid  woman.  She  is  intellectual,  almost  a 
genius  herself.  No  woman  is  better  fitted  to  stimu 
late  and  sympathize  with  you.  It  is  the  wisest  thing 
you  could  do  ! "  And  he  shook  me  again  by  the  hand, 
but  his  smiling  face  clouded  as  he  did  so.  "  I  have 
made  a  bungle  of  it,  talking  of  her  to'  you  as  I  did. 
Since  I  have  done  so,  let  me  add  this.  Neither 
Rachel,  Mrs.  Trent,  nor  I  can  influence  her.  You 
can !  Use  your  authority  over  her,  —  I  mean,  her  love 
for  you.  Don't  allow  her  to  study  so  hard,  my  dear. 
Tell  her  to  spare  herself  for  your  sake,  if  not  for  her 
own.  I  am  glad  I  did  tell  you.  Good-by ! "  And 
the  Doctor  was  gone. 


THE   WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN.  327 


CHAPTEK  XXVI. 

THE  WINDY  WAYS   OF  MEN. 

UPON  the  first  Sunday  of  his  coming,  Eoss  in 
sisted  upon  going  to  hear  the  Eev.  Mr.  Adair. 
I  did  not  know  then,  as  I  did  afterward,  of  the  depth 
of  his  devotion  to  Persis  Paige.  Really  it  was  to 
see  her,  to  place  himself  at  last  in  her  hands,  and 
to  rest  there,  that  he  came  at  all.  From  Mrs.  Trent, 
most  likely,  he  had  heard  of  Mr.  Adair's  admiration 
for  Persis,  that  when  she  went  to  church  at  all  it  was 
to  hear  him,  and  he  wanted  to  see  the  sort  of  man 
Mr.  Adair  was.  In  the  absence  of  Persis  he  might 
judge  of  her  by  that ;  for  although  I  was  not  aware 
of  it  then,  Eoss  was  eager  to  know,  even  while  he 
almost  trembled  to  do  so,  wherein  the  changes  in 
Persis  lay. 

One  rarely  hears  a  more  pleasing  speaker  than  Mr. 
Adair  proved  to  be.  He  appeared  larger  in  the  pulpit 
than  out  of  it ;  there  he  had  free  and  uninterrupted 
opportunity  of  letting  himself  out,  and  he  did  so. 
Eoss  was  a  person  of  such  striking  appearance  that 
the  preacher  may  have  noticed  him  in  the  congrega 
tion,  perhaps  knew  who  he  was,  for  Mr.  Adair  knew 
everything.  This  may  have  stimulated  him  to  greater 
effort.  As  usual  he  was  engaged  in  denying,  dis- 


328  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

proving,  vigorously  resenting  something,  I  forget  what 
it  was,  for  I  was  myself  interested  only  in  the  clear 
diction,  the  terse  and  clean-carved  sentences.  Unless 
I  greatly  mistake,  his  congregation  cared  no  more 
than  I  did  for  the  subject-matter  of  what  he  said. 
He  was  to  them,  as  to  me,  but  an  extremely  skilful 
musician :  it  was  wholly  in  his  brilliant  execution 
they  were  concerned ;  for  the  sentiment  of  the  piece 
they  did  not  care  a  pin.  And  Mr.  Adair  was  very 
much  of  an  expert  in  what  he  did.  Nor  was  it 
merely  in  his  effective  anecdote,  sarcasm,  ridicule, 
superb  contempt,  that  his  skill  consisted.  Purely  as 
a  quality,  I  may  say  that  he  had  great  dramatic  force 
of  scorn ;  it  was  a  more  corrosive  scorn  than  I  ever 
saw  in  the  best  actor ;  he  took  such  pleasure  in  it,  so 
evidently  from  the  very  heart  of  the  man  did  it  come. 
His  rhetoric,  too,  was  as  the  scarlet  of  a  cardinal,  he 
was  so  dogmatic,  so  infallible.  Against,  not  for,  any 
thing  in  particular.  His  highest  power  was  in  hatred 
for  and  assault  of  something;  what  it  was  he  opposed, 
what  it  was  he  held  to  instead,  nobody  thought  of 
that  a  second  time. 

"  As  sword-play  it  was  splendid,"  Ross  said,  as  we 
came  away.  "  The  curious  thing  about  it  is,  that  the 
adroitness  of  the  man  is  by  reason  of  a  sincere  detes 
tation  of,  an  almost  desperate  determination  to  slay, 
the  pei-son  upon  whom  his  sword  is  drawn." 

"  The  person  ? "  I  asked. 

"  Guernsey,"  my  friend  said  in  what  seemed  to  me 
to  be  a  species  of  contemptuous  despair,  "  you  people 
who  profess  to  believe  most  really  believe  as  little, 


THE   WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN.  329 

almost,  as  the  rest  of  us.  Look  at  it.  So  far  as  this 
Mr.  Adair  is  certain  of  anything,  it  is  that  Christ 
was,  if  he  ever  existed  at  all,  a  good  man  who  said 
and  did  some  admirable  things  there  in  Judaea,  was 
killed  for  it,  and  has  been  dead  and  dust  for  near 
twenty  centuries.  On  the  other  hand,  you,  and 
Christendom  with  you,  profess  to  regard  Christ  as 
more  than  man,  as  alive  to-day  as  much  as  ever,  as 
present  on  earth  now,  and  more  actively  engaged  with 
men  than  before.  You  say  so ;  really  you  believe  it 
almost  as  little  as  he !  Mr.  Adair  don't  believe  in  a 
living  Jesus :  but  the  amazing  thing  is,  that  he  acts 
as  if  he  did ;  that  is,  he  strikes,  when  you  get  at  the 
core  of  his  fury  and  his  assault,  not  at  the  rabble  of 
disciples  about  their  Lord,  but  at  the  Christ  himself. 
He  does  n't  care  for  the  mere  men,  them  he  despises 
as  I  do ;  it  is  the  Christ  he  attacks,  the  living  present 
Christ  of  Christendom.  He  persists,  whatever  he  may 
deny,  in  considering  Jesus  a  living,  a  powerful,  an 
exceedingly  active  foe,  and  fighting  him  furiously. 
That  is  the  reason  he  never  tires,  is  so  vigorous  in 
his  cut  and  thrust.  No  man  could  fight  as  he  does 
unless  with  a  feeling,  under  all,  that  it  is  with  a  liv 
ing,  yes,  and  a  very  dangerous  enemy.  I  wonder  you 
do  not  understand  !  The  Roman  soldier  was  content 
to  thrust  his  spear  into  the  side  of  the  crucified  Naza- 
rene  but  once ;  this  warrior  can  never,  for  all  his 
efforts,  be  quite  sure  he  has  at  last  killed  the 
Christ." 

But  Persis  was  absent  for  some  Sundays  longer, 
and  Ross  went  with  me  the  round  of  the  churches. 


330  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

As  I  came  to  know  afterward,  be  did  so  with  a  de 
spairing  desire  to  see,  as  a  last  resort,  if  there  was 
anything  among  us  upon  which  he  could  rest  as  with 
final  assurance  :  to  win  Persis  and  to  learn  that  were 
the  objects  of  his  coming,  and  he  was  almost  as  in 
tensely  desirous  of  the  one  as  of  the  other. 

One  of  the  speakers  Ross  liked,  in  his  way,  very 
much.  He  was  a  broad-browed,  earnest,  apparently 
sincere  and  philanthropic  man. 

"  He  is  a  noble  soul,"  my  friend  told  me  as  we 
walked  home  from  his  church.  "  I  enjoyed  what  he 
said.  His  church  is  what  a  church  has  to  be,  I  sup 
pose,  these  days,  —  nothing  more  than  a  lecture-hall. 
The  preacher  is  a  clear-headed  demonstrator  in  science. 
He  makes  experiments.  I  could  almost  smell  the 
chemicals  upon  the  air.  With  a  dead  doctrine  upon 
the  table  before  him,  he  is  very  good  at  dissection, 
explanation.  He  made  some  striking  suggestions, 
some  daring  guesses.  He  and  his  people  are  intel 
ligently  interested  in  conjecturing,  experimenting. 
Who  knows,  they  think,  but  something  may  come  of 
it  some  day  ?  I  will  go  again  next  Sunday  and  see." 

We  did  so,  but  could  scarcely  believe  it  was  the 
same  speaker.  He  must  have  had  some  severe  sorrow 
during  the  week  before  in  his  household  or  among  his 
people.  Perhaps  he  had  read  something,  heard  some 
thing.  For  some  reason  he  was  not  in  the  mood  for 
speculating  that  day  among  the  uncertainties.  To 
our  surprise  he  stood  as  upon  rock,  was  almost  im 
passioned  in  assertion  of  those  things  upon  which  men 
must  rest  if  they  are  to  rest  at  all.  I  was  so  delighted 


THE    WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN.  331 

that  I  told  Mrs.  Trent  of  it.  After  Rachel's  return 
from  the  country  she  and  Mrs.  Trent  hurried  there 
to  hear  him  and  to  rejoice  that  his  experiments  had 
arrived  at  last  at  some  result.  They  came  away  in 
dignant,  not  so  much  at  him  as  at  me.  He  had 
reacted  to  something  more  radical  than  before.  "  He 
was  worse  than  Mr.  Adair!  You  ought  to  be  ashamed," 
Mrs.  Trent  scolded  me,  "  of  playing  us  such  a  trick  ! 
People  should  not  make  practical  jokes,  Mr.  Guernsey, 
of  serious  matters.  I  am  grieved  that  you  should  do 
such  a  thing  ! " 

During  his  short  stay  Eoss  and  I  gave  every  Sun 
day  to  hearing  some  minister.  Our  review  could  not 
but  be  as  limited  as  it  was  superficial.  "  In  no  city," 
I  told  him,  "  is  there  a  larger  number  to  the  popu 
lation  of  able,  eloquent,  devout,  successful  pastors. 
Nowhere  are  there,  perhaps,  more  thriving  churches, 
or  members  who  work  harder  or  give  more  to  all  be 
nevolent  objects."  There  was  much  during  our  rounds 
that  I  heartily  liked.  So,  although  in  a  wholly  dif 
ferent  sense,  did  my  friend.  He  listened  closely,  gave 
to  each  speaker  his  due  award  of  praise  for  logic,  illus 
tration,  pathos,  rhetoric,  personal  appearance,  but  to 
Ross  it  was  so  much  enjoyment  of  a  varied  eloquence, 
that  was  all. 

"  Whatever  thorough  training,  vigorous  talent,  fierce 
competition,  can  do,"  he  said  to  me,  "  for  men,  your 
speakers  of  every  kind  have  long  possessed.  All  that 
men  anywhere  can  do  as  the  result  thereof,  they  do. 
They  do  it  most  admirably.  I  have  heard  things  I 
knew  before  strongly  put.  It  is  when  they  try  to  tell 


332  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

me  of  the  things  I  do  not  know,  of  the  underlying 
forces  which  must  make  a  man  do  what  he  already 
approves  but  does  not  want  to  do,  it  is  when  they  try 
to  get  at  the  things  which  I  would  die  to  be  assured 
of,  that  they  break  clown.  Do  you  think,"  Ross  said 
almost  violently,  "  that  I  care  a  snap  for  the  opinions 
of  Tom,  Dick,  and  Harry  in  regard  to  things  unseen  ? 
Here  are  men  straining  themselves  to  stand  on  tip-toe 
and  look  over  the  wall.  For  thousands  of  years  men 
have  made  nothing  at  that.  I  am  as  tall  as  any  of 
them,  can  see  as  far  into  the  invisible.  Poor  fellows, 
they  do  not  see  anything,  and  yet  they  want  to  lift  me 
to  look  !  I  am  sick  of  everlasting  conjecture." 

"  In  regard  to  much  of  it,  somebody,"  I  remarked, 
"  has  said  that,  at  last,  it  is  but  the  swing  to  and  fro 
of  a  pendulum  which  can  tick  only  an  unceasing  Eyo, 
Ncgo  !  Ncgo,  Ego  !  You  may  take,  if  you  will,  the 
spluttering  electricity  of  Voltaire  and  his  race  ;  I  pre 
fer  the  steady  fires  of  St.  Paul,  the  glow  of  heart  and 
intellect  fed  by  the  unchanging  certainties." 

"  Do  you  ?  One  hears,"  Ross  groaned,  "  so  much 
speechifying  !  I  might  have  known  it  was  so  before 
I  came.  I  must  fall  back  on  the  tree  lizards  and  cat 
birds  ! 

"  While  7  am  talking  let  me  tell  you  one  thing.  I 
admire,"  Ross  added,  "  your  famous  city  more  than 
I  have  confessed.  It  is  magnificent.  Your  business 
blocks,  philanthropies,  city  management,  libraries, 
public  schools,  free  baths,  ships,  factories,  inventions, 
are  wonderful.  More  amazing  still  is  the  persistent, 
highly  skilled,  I  may  say  overflow  of,  intelligent 


THE    WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEM.  333 

force.  Nowhere  on  earth  is  it  more  concentrated 
than  here.  Your  success  in  regard  to  things  mate 
rial  strikes  me,  as  a  stranger,  very  much,  but  not  so 
much  as  the  pitiful  failure  of  the  vast  effort  in  re 
gard  to  everything  else.  As  soon,  I  mean,  as  you 
bund  yourself  to  things  unseen,  I  am  your  equal.  I 
can  speculate  about  God  and  the  soul  as  successfully 
as  the  best  of  you ! 

"Guernsey,"  Ross  went  on,  for  he  had  cherished 
small  expectations,  but  they  had  ended  in  a  large  de 
spair,  "  your  people  bring  to  their  guessing  in  regard 
to  the  unseen  an  energy  more  desperate  than  to  their 
daily  business.  In  the  last  they  accomplish  every 
thing  ;  in  the  other  nothing,  nothing,  absolutely  noth 
ing  !  The  results  in  the  one  case  and  in  the  other 
come  too  close  together  for  the  contrast  not  to  amaze, 
if  it  did  not  amuse.  That  is  all ! " 

On  account  of  the  connection  too  in  which  it  took 
place  I  shrink  from  speaking  of  myself.  My  excuse 
is  that,  really,  it  is  not  of  myself  I  speak.  The  facts 
were  these.  Before  the  coming  of  Ross  I  had  pro 
duced  a  lecture  which  aroused  more  interest  than  any 
as  yet,  because  I  was  myself  more  interested  in  it 
than  in  anything,  so  far,  of  my  handiwork.  What  it 
was  ahout  does  not  matter.  It  was  timely,  but  what 
ever  force  it  had  lay  in  its  undeniable  truth.  Every 
body  had  been  saying  the  same  thing  to  himself  for 
some  time ;  my  sole  merit  was  in  speaking  out  what 
many  felt  even  more  clearly  than  myself.  It  so 
happened  that  I  delivered  the  lecture  in  one  of  the 
city  halls  during  the  sojourn  with  us  of  my  friend. 


334  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

When  the  audience  heard  what  I  said,  tried  to  say, 
in  my  lecture,  it  was  listening,  in  fact,  merely  to  its 
own  deepest  intuitions.  My  words  were  less  than 
their  own  conceptions. 

I  was  glad,  the  night  of  my  lecture,  to  find  myself 
at  last  off  the  platform  and  with  Ross  in  his  room  at 
the  hotel.  He  was  kind  enough  in  what  he  said,  but 
we  were  sufficiently  stimulated  to  get  away  for  the 
time  from  ourselves.  "  It  is  odd,"  I  said  to  Ross, 
"how  matters  happen.  Listen.  Once  on  a  time  I 
was  in  a  barren  region  out  West  where  a  man  was 
boring  for  oil.  My  interest  was  not  in  the  work,  but 
in  the  man.  Day  after  day  for  months  had  his  drill 
forced  its  slow  way  down  and  down  through  what 
seemed  to  be  the  unending  variations  of  gravel,  clay, 
sand,  rock.  One  day,  at  last,  a  strong  torrent  of  oil 
spouted  up  from  below,  driving  like  straws  the  tools 
and  the  man  himself  before  it.  So  it  is  with  all  of 
us.  We  toil  on,  for  years  it  may  be,  but  some  day  we 
strike  the  deepest  and  richest  fountains  writhin  our 
selves.  You  knew  as  little  as  any  man  what  was  in 
you,  but  you  are  beginning  to  see,  at  last,  what  you 
may  arrive  at.  But,  listen !  A  man  says  and  does 
and  is  his  best  not  uutil  he  drills  his  way  through 
the  accursed  crusts  of  things,  and  gets  at  the  central 
certainties.  That  will  do ;  tell  me  something  about 
yourself,"  for  a  man  is  never  so  apt  to  say  foolish 
things  as  immediately  after  a  successful  address. 

But  the  character  and  enthusiasm  of  my  audience 
that  night  had  excited  Ross  beyond  his  wont. 

"  That  explains  ! "  he  said.     "  For  your  success  lay 


THE   WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN.  335 

not  so  much  in  what  you  said  as  in  your  joyful  con 
fidence.  You  assumed  that  every  one  agreed  with  you 
in  his  inmost  heart,  and  —  " 

"  The  clapping  of  their  hands  was,"  I  said,  "  but  an 
outer  pulsation  of  their  hearts  assenting  to  undeniable 
facts.  That  is  so,  because  I  tried  to  travel  only  on 
solid  certainties.  When  there  are  such  fragments  of 
rock  all  along  for  my  feet,  why  should  I  flounder  in 
the  mud,  or  flutter  upon  feeble  wings  ?  '  The  Devil  is 
an  Ass '  is  the  name  Ben  Jonson  gave  to  his  play ; 
for  the  Devil  is  the  supreme  fool  of  the  universe, 
always  thwarted  in  the  end,  because  he  prefers  lies  to 
certainties.  Eoss,  dear  old  chap,"  I  said,  my  hand  on 
his  shoulder  as  he  sat,  "  why  will  you  plunge  forever 
on,  as  through  a  cypress  swamp?  Plant  your  feet, 
man,  on  the  everlasting  certainties ! " 

"  Certainties  ? "  he  asked. 

"  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  notions  of  Tom,  Dick, 
Harry,  Aryan  or  American  ;  as  you  say,  we  can  guess 
as  well  as  the  best  of  them.  The  unseen  certainties 
only  God  knows,  only  God  can  make  known.  He  has 
done  so !  We  have  had  them  for  eighteen  centuries, 
and  no  more  are  to  be  told  us.  They  suffice ;  look 
at  them,  —  God  ;  the  soul ;  life,  a  gymnasium  for  the 
development  of  eternal  character;  every  worst  event 
overruled  for  our  highest  good  ! " 

"  How  can  there  be  a  good  God,"  Ross  demanded, 
"when  there  is  so  much  rascality  and  wretchedness 
among  men  ? " 

"  I  don't  know.  It  hurts  me  as  much  as  it  can  any 
man.  All  I  know,"  I  said,  "  is  that  God  come  to  us 


336  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

in  Christ  accepts  sin  and  suffering  as  tremendous  facts; 
endures  them  for  a  lifetime ;  suffers  all  any  man  can 
suffer  under  them ;  undergoes  the  utmost  that  mob 
law,  civil  law,  church  law,  God  himself  can  do ;  dies 
crushed  to  death  under  them.  When  God  comes  in 
flesh,  and  takes,  endures,  survives  that,  I  try  to  take 
the  Christ,  to  cling  to  the  Christ,  without  knowing 
anything  else,  as  the  supreme  and  sufficient  cer 
tainty.  In  him  I  rest,  and  am  contented  to  wait  and 
see ! " 

"  I  can  understand,"  Ross  said,  after  a  long  silence, 
"  that  when  a  man  does  stand  upon  your  absolute  cer 
tainties,  as  you  call  them,  he  stands  very  firmly.  The 
forefathers  of  the  people  living  about  here  had  such 
hold  upon  your  certainties  that  they  have  sent  them 
down  with  amazing  force.  Their  personal  notions 
everybody  laughs  at ;  these  certainties  of  theirs  and 
yours  are  in  the  blood  and  bone  of  their  children.  Can 
a  man  grasp  a  thing  so  vigorously,"  Eoss  asked  of  him 
self,  "  unless  it  is  a,  fact  ?  You  can  hang  on  to  a  bit  of 
gold ;  if  you  grasp  a  bubble,  it  breaks.  Anything  but 
a  fact  is  crushed  the  harder  you  grasp  it.  Certainties? 
Those  old-fashioned  believers  have  made  America  what 
it  is, — that 's  a  fact.  This  city  is  flooded  with  foreign 
ers,  yet  these  certainties,  as  you  call  them,  are  strong 
enough  in  their  minority  of  descendants  to  overmaster 
and  to  leaven  the  new  and  hostile  majorities,  here  and 
over  America  so  far.  Did  it  ever  strike  you,"  Eoss 
added,  "  in  regard  to  those  who  have  departed  from 
their  hold  upon  your  certainties,  that  in  so  short  a 
time  they  are  already  a  spent  force  ?  The  certainties 


'THE    WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN.  337 

hold  out,  in  the  past  as  in  the  present,  here  and  over 
Christendom,  better  and  longer  than  that.  Guernsey," 
Ross  added  with  one  of  his  steady  looks,  "  I  will  say 
this :  I  know  men  who  are  worn  out  by  debauchery 
idleness,  the  owning  of  too  much  money.  A  blase 
man  is  as  weak  as  water.  Mr.  Adair  is  intellectually 
a  rout.  Alert  as  he  seems  to  be,  he  is,  except  in  vio 
lently  opposing  everything,  as  weak  as  a  man  can  be, 
as  to  the  definite  doing  of  anything,  as  to  the  going 
in  any  definite  direction,  because  he  is  the  victim  of 
ennui.  You  see,  a  man  must  exhaust  his  brains 
sooner  or  later;  there  is  but  a  saucer  full  of  them 
at  best;  why  should  the  brain  not  give  out  as  much 
as  the  nerves  or  the  stomach  ? " 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  "  Mr.  Adair  is,  at  heart,  as  profoundly 
disgusted  with  his  present  position  as  you  or  I  or  any 
man  could  possibly  be.  His  resolve  to  escape  from 
it  is  desperate.  No  man  has  a  clearer  head,  yet  when 
he  asks  of  himself,  Where  shall  I  go  ?  he  falters  like 
an  idiot.  He  must  get  out  of  his  Moscow  crumbling 
about  him  to  ashes,  but,  like  Napoleon,  whither  shall 
he  go  through  the  trackless  snows  ?  If  he  could  but 
come  to  see  that,  in  this  matter,  it  would  not  help 
him  were  he  a  Socrates  and  a  Plato,  a  Bacon,  Newton, 
Shakespeare,  all  in  one  !  The  divine  certainties  are 
apart  from  men,  are  as  clearly  revealed  as  they  are 
eternal,  inexhaustible." 

"Oh,  well,"  Ross  added,  "this  I  will  say:  the  power 
is  with  you  who  believe  in  them,  —  the  power,  because 
with  you  is  the  heart.  I  fear  some  of  even  your 
churches,  as  churches,  are  dying ;  the  heart  in  them 

22 


338  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

seems  to  be  ceasing  to  beat.  But  I  am  not  interested 
in  such  things ;  let  us  talk  of  something  else." 

Of  course  I  knew  that  I  might  do  more  harm  to 
Ross  than  good,  but  I  had  a  hope  in  a  promise  my 
friend  had  made  Mrs.  Trent,  that  he  would  go  and 
hear  her  pastor,  good  Mr.  Brown.  He  was  a  plain 
man,  sincere  in  his  faith,  excellent,  hard-working, 
humble,  seeming  never  to  think  of  himself.  His  creed 
was  that  in  which  I  was  born  and  reared,  and  I  was 
anxious  as  to  the  result  when  one  Sunday  I  went 
with  Ross  to  hear  what  he  had  to  say.  Mrs.  Trent 
was  lingering  for  us  in  the  vestibule  of  their  modest 
church,  and  I  saw  her  eagerness  in  her  eyes  as  she 
gave  Ross  her  hand,  forgetting  me  entirely.  I  im 
agined  I  saw  her  lips  move  in  prayer  as  she  seated 
herself  next  to  Ross  in  her  pew,  my  seat  being  on  the 
other  side  of  him. 

While  the  people  were  singing  I  was  thinking  of 
the  cafious  in  the  Sierras,  how  they  run  a  thousand 
feet  deep  this  way  and  that  through  the  solid  rock. 
"  Ross  is,  in  comparison  to  other  men,"  I  said  to  my 
self,  "  as  a  canon  is  among  the  glens  and  valleys.  He 
tends,  as  it  were,  due  north ;  is  deep,  is  rock,  is 
seemingly  unchangeable.  And  yet  there  are  fires  and 
internal  forces  which  can  and  do  alter  the  trend  of 
the  deepest  valleys.  If  Ross  is  changed  into  a  hap 
pier  direction,  he  will  be  Ross  Urwoldt  in  that  too, 
and  to  the  end."  I  glanced  at  him  as  Mr.  Brown 
took  his  text.  His  eyes  were  fastened  upon  the 
speaker,  and  he  remained  motionless  to  the  end  in 
his  fixed  attention.  It  had  been  my  fortune  irume- 


THE    WINDY  WAYS  OF  MEN.  339 

diately  upon  the  close  of  the  war  to  help  feed  the 
starving  men  taken  from  Audersonville  prison,  and  it 
reminded  me  of  them,  —  the  gaze  which  Ross  riveted 
upon  the  speaker.  His  face  was  gaunt  as  with  want ; 
the  features  were  sharp,  pinched.  He  was  a  very- 
strong  man,  had  vigorous  appetites ;  he  had  nothing 
to  satisfy  his  soul  so  far,  he  was  hungrier  than  he 
would  let  me  know.  Everything  else  had  failed.  So 
far  as  churches  went  this  was  his  last  chance. 

I  try  to  hold  on  to  the  Christ,  but  it  is  scant  faith 
I  have  iu  any  Peter  or  John  whatsoever,  however 
near  Christ  they  seem  to  stand.  My  experience  now 
but  established  me  in  this.  Had  Mr.  Brown  known 
the  result,  he  would  have  died  rather  than  have 
done  it.  Alas,  all  he  said  was  about  something,  I 
forget  what,  in  connection  with  Christ,  not  about  the 
Master  himself.  It  was  as  if  he  held  up  for  our  ad 
miration  the  holy  coat  of  Treves,  the  seamless  vest 
ure  of  Christ ;  but  it  was  not  the  Son  of  God  himself 
whom  he  showed  us.  As  the  sermon  advanced,  Ross 
still  listened,  but  took  —  how  could  I  blame  him  ?  — 
as  little  interest  in  it  as  he  would  have  done  in  any 
other  bundle  of  rags.  After  service  Mrs.  Trent  had 
not  a  word  to  say.  Eoss  had  already  forgotten  Mr. 
Brown  and  what  he  had  talked  about.  As  I  came  to 
know  afterward  he  was  saying  to  himself,  as  we 
walked  away, — 

"  I  am  done  now  with  everything  else  but  Persis." 


340  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTEE  XXVII. 

EXTEMPORE. 

TDEESIS  and  Kachel  were  still  absent,  and  I  was 
•*-  walking  along  the  street  one  afternoon,  when 
Dr.  Trent,  who  was  driving  rapidly  by  in  his  carriage, 
reined  in  his  horse  and  beckoned  to  me.  "  I  have 
seen  to  it,"  he  said,  "that  the  young  ladies  in  the 
country  know  nothing  of  the  visit  of  Colonel  Unvoldt. 
It  is  essential  that  Persis  should  have  a  good  rest 
from  all  kinds  of  excitement,  and  for  that  it  is  neces 
sary  Rachel  should  be  with  her.  Mrs.  Trent  tells  me 
that  Urwoldt  is  here,  chiefly,  she  believes,  with  refer 
ence  to  Persis,  and  it  is  partly  her  suggestion  that 
Persis  had  better  remain  away,  for  the  present  at 
least.  I  think  it  is  due  to  you,"  the  Doctor  gravely 
added,  "  that  I  should  speak.  There  are  times  when 
a  physician  must  be  frank.  Miss  Persis  is,  I  fear, 
very  inconsiderate.  Confound  education  !"  he  broke 
out ;  "  they  distil  knowledge,  these  days,  into  strong 
drink,  and  the  use  of  it,  where  women  are  concerned, 
has  grown  into  an  intemperance  ! " 

1  knew  that  Dr.  Trent  was  becoming  almost  rabid 
on  the  subject,  and  answered  him  lightly.  "  People, 
you  mean,  are  abandoning  the  flowers  of  garden  and 


EXTEMPORE.  341 

field  for  perfumes  in  bottles  of  cut  glass.  It  is  an 
age  of  telegrams,  you  mean,  and  the  distillation  and 
condensation  of  everything.  The  essences  of  men 
and  women,  as  of  nature  in  general,  are  so  sublimated 
into  novels  and  poems  that  we  prefer  the  books  to 
everything  else." 

"It  is  no  joke,"  Dr.  Trent  said,  almost  roughly. 
"  Persis  always  was,  I  learn,  of  a  high-strung,  excit 
able  temperament,  liable  to  intense  excitement ;  of 
late  she  often  sinks  into  deep  depression.  She  has 
worked  herself  too  hard  ever  since  she  came.  A  few 
weeks  ago  a  much  better  position  as  teacher  was 
offered  her,  —  a  large  salary  attached.  It  is  such  an 
opportunity  as  few  women  have  even  in  this  city ;  it 
is  a  great  compliment  to  her,  and  I  was  so  alarmed 
for  the  result  that  it  was  by  my  arranging,  unknown 
to  her,  that  she  is  to-day  among  kind  friends.  Be 
fore  she  enters  upon  the  new  position  she  must  rest. 
She  has  allowed  herself  to  be  drawn  off,  as  if  she  had 
not  distraction  enough  already,  by  Mr.  Adair  and 
others,  into  doubt  and  everlasting  discussion  as  to 
the  very  foundations  of  what  had  been  her  faith. 
Poor  child !  she  is  completely  at  sea.  Tell  Urwoldt 
she  is  sick.  He  can  visit  her  some  other  time." 

I  fancied  I  saw  Mrs.  Trent's  hand  in  that  sugges 
tion,  but  the  Doctor  said  to  me,  as  he  gathered  up  his 
reins,  "We  regard  you  as  her  next  friend,  and,  I  assure 
you,  she  is  in  a  critical  situation,  and  —  I  cannot 
answer  for  the  result."  Thereupon  he  insisted  upon 
telling  me  of  a  number  of  young  lady  patients  of  his 
who  had  graduated  with  high  honors  at  this  institu- 


342  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

tion  and  that  merely  to  sink  into  melancholy  wrecks 
and  die. 

Before  he  was  done,  Ross  crossed  the  street  toward 
us,  and  Dr.  Trent  waited  only  to  shake  hands  with 
him,  and  drove  on.  I  could  not  define  to  myself  why 
I  shrank,  as  I  did,  from  repeating  to  Ross  what  the 
Doctor  told  me.  As  we  sauntered  along  the  street,  my 
friend  stopped  before  the  entrance  to  a  public  hall 
at  which  there  was  displayed  a  staring  placard.  "  I 
saw  a  notice  of  this  affair  in  my  paper  at  breakfast," 
he  remarked,  "  but  had  forgotten  it.  Let  us  drop  in 
a  moment.  We  don't  have  this  style  of  thing  every 
where,  and  I  may  never  be  in  this  city  again.  We 
need  not  stop  more  than  a  minute  or  so." 

Knowing  as  I  did  what  was  going  on  within,  I  was 
sorry  that  Ross  should,  in  his  present  mood,  be  even 
a  momentary  spectator  thereof,  but  there  was  nothing 
to  do  but  to  go  in  with  him  and  take  what  came. 

It  was  a  long  hall,  narrow  and  poorly  lighted  from 
without.  At  the  farther  end  was  a  platform,  upon 
which,  to  my  surprise,  several  ladies,  old  and  young, 
were  seated,  with  here  and  there  a  man  or  two.  The 
audience  was  small,  straggling,  no  individual  man  or 
woman  seeming  to  have  relation  to  any  other.  One 
or  two  were  reading  the  papers.  It  is  more  than 
possible  that  I  was  prejudiced,  but  I  was  struck  as  by 
a  malarious  chill,  there  was  something  so  dreary  in 
the  aspect  of  everything.  At  least  so  it  seemed  until 
I  looked  up  at  the  presiding  officer,  who,  as  we  en 
tered,  was  addressing  the  meeting.  Evidently  he 
was,  or  had  been,  a  clergyman,  and  might  be  a  bishop, 


EXTEMPORE.  343 

so  patriarchal  was  he.  There  was  more  than  clerical 
dignity  in  his  towering  height,  his  iron-gray  hair,  his 
paternal  gestures,  his  benignant  and  persuasive  ac 
cents.  You  would  have  taken  oath  that,  whatever 
his  abilities  might  be,  he  was  an  eminently  good  man, 
one  who  had  endured  with  patience  much  persecution 
for  righteousness'  sake. 

"  The  sole  article  of  our  creed,  dear  friends,"  he  was 
saying,  "is  the  most  perfect  freedom,  —  freedom  for 
everybody,  freedom  for  everything.  It  has  been  ex 
emplified  upon  this  platform  since  our  Convocation 
met.  We  have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  every 
variety  of  views  from  almost  every  variety  of  individ 
ual.  A  distinguished  rabbi  has  addressed  us,  —  a  rabbi 
of  a  large  and  wealthy  synagogue,  and  of  the  liberal 
school.  With  great  pleasure  we  have  heard  from  his 
lips  the  assurance  that  the  Jews  are  rapidly  abandon 
ing  their  belief  in  Moses  as  any  other  than  an  able 
lawgiver.  The  pretended  inspiration  of  the  Old  Tes 
tament,  the  ridiculous  stories  of  miracles  attending 
the  history  of  the  Jews,  the  superstitious  rites  and 
ceremonies,  —  all,  he  tells  us,  will  soon  be,  to  the  Is 
raelites  also,  among  the  refuse  of  the  past,  with  Buddh 
ism  and  the  miserable  fetichism  of  the  poor  African. 
The  expectation  of  a  Messiah  is  definitely  given  up, 
and  we  have  been  charmed  with  the  story  of  Jewish 
love  for  America  as  the  only  Christ  or  Canaan  desired 
by  them.  We  have  had,  also,  the  pleasure  of  listen 
ing  to  the  eloquent  lady  who  spoke  so  well  for  female 
suffrage  ;  to  a  medical  friend,  also,  who  assures  us  that, 
with  due  observance  of  the  laws  of  health,  all  disease 


344  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

and  death  itself  will  be  unknown.  I  could  not  assent 
wholly  to  our  female  friend,  following  after,  who  has 
depicted  before  us  the  horrors  of  marriage  and  the 
blessedness  of  perfect  freedom  of  divorce,  but  there 
is  much  truth  in  what  she  advanced.  We  have  been 
amused  by  the  earnestness  of  the  Christian  enthu 
siast  who  addressed  us  so  vehemently ;  nor  have 
we  failed  to  learn  much  from  the  lady  who  spoke  to 
us,  as  she  believed,  under  possession  of  the  spirit 
of  Thomas  Paine.  The  living  and,  the  dead,"  the 
speaker  said  in  a  fatherly  manner,  "  Calvin  and  Vol 
taire,  sceptic,  atheist,  Spiritualist,  Mohammed,  Jesus, 
Joe  Smith,  Methodist,  Swedenborgian,  —  we  are  glad 
to  hear  whoever  conies.  If  there  wrere  a  Satan," 
and  the  benevolent  bishop  smiled  upon  his  laughing 
hearers,  "  he  should  be  as  welcome  to  say  his  say 
as  God,  if  there  be  a  God.  That  is  the  peculiar  glory 
of  our  platform,  that  it  is  free,  —  free  as  the  air,  as 
the  light !  "  Great  applause  followed  this  state 
ment. 

He  proceeded  for  some  time  in  this  strain.  More 
people  dropped  in,  some  went  out.  Here  and  there 
little  knots  conversed  together.  I  was  tired  of  it,  but 
Ross  would  not  go  out  with  me.  He  seemed  singu 
larly  interested.  When  the  speaker  sat  down  after 
a  hearty  invitation  to  any  one  to  speak  who  liked, 
quite  a  number  complied  with  the  request.  I  can 
not  remember  them  all.  One  woman  with  close- 
cropped  hair  and  spectacles  was  so  very  plain  in  her 
language  as  to  the  tyranny  of  man  as  a  husband  that 
the  benignant  presiding  officer  was  obliged,  although 


EXTEMPORE.  345 

in  a  very  fatherly  way,  to  warn  her  that  the  police 
were  present.  When  she  had  flung  herself  from  the 
platform  in  a  rage,  a  mild-eyed  Quakeress  had  her 
say ;  after  that,  a  long-haired,  pallid-faced  individual 
freed  himself  of  the  bitterest  of  assaults  upon  relig 
ion,  any  and  every  religion. 

Then  followed  a  lull.  No  one  seemed  inclined  to  ad 
vance  anything  further.  People  arose  here  and  there 
and  yawned.  A  small  and  active  man  passed  along 
the  seats,  soliciting  subscriptions  to  a  radical  periodi 
cal  ;  conversation  rose  into  a  universal  hum ;  men  and 
women  began  to  go  out.  The  officer  looked  at  his 
watch.  "  I  see,  dear  friends,"  he  said,  "  that  we  have 
some  time  left  us.  Is  there  no  one  who  will  favor 
us  ?  Feel  entirely  free,  whoever  of  you,  dear  friends, 
may  wish  to  attack  anything,  to  defend  anything  !" 

There  was  no  response.  The  worthy  bishop  fastened, 
to  my  dismay,  his  persuasive  eyes  upon  my  compan 
ion.  "I  have  observed  among  us,"  he  said,  coming 
to  the  edge  of  the  platform  and  rubbing  his  episcopal 
hands  slowly  and  softly  together,  "  a  friend  who  has 
listened  with  great  attention,  and  whom  I  take  to  be 
a  stranger.  Perhaps,  sir,  you  will  give  us  the  pleas 
ure—" 

Without  a  moment's  hesitation  Ross  arose,  went 
down  the  narrow  aisle,  took  his  place  beside  the  pres 
ident,  and  looked  deliberately  around  him.  From  our 
coming  in  I  had  observed  that,  whoever  spoke,  there 
was  applause.  Whenever  any  point  was  made,  it 
mattered  not  what  it  was,  for  or  against,  if  it  was 
amusing  everybody  laughed,  if  it  was  striking  every 


346  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

hand  lent  its  cordial  tribute  of  clapping.  When  my 
friend  faced  the  audience  there  was  a  pause.  He  was 
so  tall,  erect,  vigorous,  there  was  so  much  of  meaning 
in  his  aspect,  his  sad  face  was  so  dark  and  determined, 
that  during  the  hush  people  asked  of  each  other  in 
a  whisper  who  he  was ;  evidently  he  was  a  man  of 
distinction.  Then  came  a  round  of  applause.  The 
reporters  looked  up  from  their  desks  below,  while  the 
patriarch  whispered  to  Ross. 

"  Our  friend  declines  to  give  his  name  or  abode," 
the  presiding  officer  remarked,  still  rubbing  his  genial 
hands  together.  "What  does  it  matter?  It  is  not 
himself,  but  what  he  may  say,  which  should  interest 
us."  And  the  applause  ratified  the  words. 

I  had  read  much  in  the  papers  of  the  power  of 
Ross  over  his  hearers,  but  had  never  heard  him  speak 
since  we  were  together  in  college.  What  wholly  in 
describable  quality  is  it  in  mere  aspect  and  tone 
which  compels  us  to  yield  to  such  a  speaker,  as  one 
does  not  so  much  to  music  as  to  weight  ?  Before  he 
had  opened  his  lips  every  one  present  felt  that  there 
must  be  value,  yes,  weight,  in  what  this  stranger  had  to 
say.  His  first  accents  strengthened  the  conviction. 

I  report  merely  such  points  as  I  can  recall  of  the 
remarks  made  by  my  friend. 

"  Stranger  as  I  am,"  he  began,  "  I  know  that  there 
are  multitudes,  large  majorities  I  dare  say,  of  the 
people  of  this  city  and  region  whom  you  do  not  rep 
resent.  What  I  say  is  to  you,  and  to  those  whom, 
organized  into  associations  or  not,  you  do  represent. 
Please  accept  what  I  say  in  a  few  definite  statements 


EXTEMPORE.  347 

of  the  way  in  which  you  as  a  class,  an  increasing 
class,  impress  me. 

"  First,  it  is  plain,  from  what  I  have  seen  here  and 
elsewhere  in  your  city,  that  you  are  consumed  by  a 
great  desire  to  learn  something  you  do  not  already 
know.  It  is  natural.  All  men  feel  it.  I  do,  perhaps, 
as  deeply  as  any.  An  unspeakable  desire!"  And  the 
depth  thereof  was,  as  he  spoke  further,  in  his  eyes,  his 
whole  aspect.  Thereupon  the  hearers  applauded;  they 
agreed  with  him  in  that. 

"  Another  thing  I  have  observed,"  Ross  continued. 
"  You  are,  I  suppose,  as  intelligent  a  people,  as  reso 
lute  and  persistent  a  people,  as  any  alive.  When  you 
go  at  making  money,  you  make  it.  If  any  needed 
improvement  is  pressed  upon  you,  it  is  invented, 
invented  out  of  the  apparently  impossible.  Above 
all  things  you  crave,  must  have,  as  you  think,  a  new 
religion.  For  how  long  and  earnestly  have  you 
striven  to  invent  a  religion  which  shall  supersede 
the  old !  Thus  far  have  you  hit  upon  anything 
which  will  serve  as  even  a  temporary  substitute 
for  it?" 

Eoss  waited  for  a  reply.  There  were  several  mo 
ments  of  silence,  and  then  applause,  always  applause. 

"  So  far  as  I  can  see,"  he  went  on,  "  the  only  clear 
conclusion  you  have  reached  is  that  any  final  cer 
tainty  to  rest  upon  is  impossible.  You  have  lost 
your  last  hope  of  such  a  thing  as  truth,  ultimate 
truth,  final  fact.  It  is  purely  from  the  force  of  habit, 
because  you  have  nothing  else  to  do,  because  you  like 
to  talk,  to  hear  other  people  talk,  that  you  keep  up 


348  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

even  the  show  of  trying  to  get  at  something  upon 
which  to  rest.  You  are  like  divers  who,  having 
abandoned  all  hope  of  securing  any  pearl  from  the 
depths,  having  given  up  the  last  lingering  belief  that 
there  are  or  ever  were  any  pearls,  are  plunging  about 
in  the  brine  hither  and  thither  from  love  of  the 
sport,  grappling  with  and  eluding  each  other,  laugh 
ing,  chattering.  But  in  all  the  wide  ocean  there  is 
not  a  pearl;  the  diving  is  all!"  The  pathos  of  the 
words  had  for  an  instant  a  stilling  effect ;  but  then 
followed  the  invariable  clapping :  they  did  not  care  ! 

"Then  what  is  there  of  practical  use,"  Ross  M'as 
only  less  scornful  than  Mr.  Adair,  "  in  your  efforts  ? 
Except  to  unsettle  yourselves  the  more,  what  do  you 
accomplish  ?  Do  you  constrain  men  to  do  what  is 
right,  to  hate  what  is  wrong  ?  Say  that  you  help 
men  in  every  other  sense,  do  you  soothe  the  suffer 
ing  where  it  becomes  agony,  the  suffering  of  the 
soul  ?  In  every  business  beside  you  are  the  most 
practically  successful  of  people.  As  to  religion,  what, 
unless  it  is  the  destroying  in  men  the  very  senti 
ment  of  religion,  —  what  do  you  do  ?  "  And  from 
out  of  the  sadness  of  the  speaker  the  demand  flashed 
like  lightning  across  a  dark  cloud,  it  was  said  so 
fiercely.  The  applause  was  none  the  less,  rather  the 
more  vigorous. 

"  To  what  rest  have  you  attained  ?  You  are,"  he 
proceeded,  "  the  hardest- worked  people  on  earth. 
"With  your  hands,  with  your  brains,  you  toil  as  was 
never  required  of  slaves.  It  is  consistent  in  you  to 
war  upon  the  Sabbath ;  to  all  rest,  rest,  you  are  the 


EXTEMPORE.  349 

deadliest  of  foes.  This  mill  of  yours  runs  more 
steadily,  makes  louder  clatter  than  any  other,  but  the 
only  grain  ground  therein  is  —  yourselves  !  There  is 
not  one  certainty  upon  which  you  even  profess  to 
pillow  your  head  or  heart  for  a  passing  instant. 
Eternal  thirst  for  repose,  eternal  and  desperate  effort 
for  repose ;  and  so  far  what  have  you  obtained  but 
the  profound  assurance  that  for  you  such  a  thing  as 
repose  is  forever  impossible  ?  You  stand  upon  ice ; 
do  you  think,"  Eoss  said  with  sudden  ferocity,  "  that 
I,  who  also  feel  my  feet  slip  from  under  me,  will 
hold  on  to  you  for  support  ? "  No  one  was  offended. 
There  was  general  laughter,  with  applause  coming 
after.  Nobody  cared  one  way  or  the  other. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  one  last  thing."  And  my  friend 
drew  nearer  to  his  audience.  "  As  a  city  you  inherit 
more  from  your  forefathers  than  any  people  that  ever 
existed,  —  schools,  wealth,  free  institutions,  health, 
unusual  vigor  of  mind,  renown.  You  have  inherited 
as  men  never  did  before,  = —  reputation,  influence 
reaching  across  the  land,  over  the  world.  And  yet 
the  most  precious  part  of  your  heritage  has  slipped 
utterly  through  your  hands.  You  have  lost  it  so 
entirely  that  you  refuse  to  believe  it  ever  existed. 
You  think  your  ancestors  were  hypocrites  for  pre 
tending  to  possess  it.  Do  you  know  what  I  mean  ? 
Greece  no  longer  enjoys  the  artistic  skill  which  made 
it  the  wonder  of  the  world.  The  Roman  of  to-day 
scarce  knows  that  his  nation  was  once  the  mistress 
of  all  lands.  What  remains  of  its  former  supremacy 
to  the  Spain  of  this  century  ?  The  one  thing  you 


350  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

have  lost,  which  did  most  to  make  your  fathers  what 
they  were,  that  one  supreme  thing  is  —  the  fear  of 
God.  Do  you  fear  him  ? "  Eoss  waited  as  if  for  a 
reply. 

"  Yes,"  he  added  at  last,  "  as  much  as  you  do  Thor 
or  Jupiter.  How  many  of  you  have  the  smallest  fear 
— fear1}  of — anything?  To  you,  when  you  regard 
him  at  all,  God,  before  whom  your  grand  old  ances 
tors  trembled,  the  only  object  they  did  fear,  —  God 
is  as  an  aged  grandfather,  a  good  old  soul  in  his 
dotage !  You  may  cherish  a  lingering,  compassionate 
affection  for  him.  But  fear,  —  the  fear  of  God  !  — 
it  has  perished  from  your  nature  !  "  And  then  Eoss 
paused.  "  Because  I  am  with  you  in  that, "  —  a 
thrill  ran  through  the  audience,  the  stranger  stood 
erect,  his  hands  extended,  there  was  such  unspeak 
able  sadness  and  sincerity  in  his  face, —  "  because  I 
am  side  by  side  in  your  hell  in  that,  I  say  it !  Of  all 
that  you  inherit  from  men  who  possessed  it  as  men 
rarely  do  in  this  world,  you  have  let  slip,  have  cast 
away,  your  chiefest  birthright,  —  you  have  lost  your 
God !  In  place  of  God  what  have  you  found  ?  — 
what  ?  what  1 " 

It  is  out  of  my  power  to  tell  the  manner  in  which 
it  was  uttered;  it  was  like  the  wail  of  a  lost  soul. 
As  Eoss  said  it  he  descended  the  platform.  After  a 
moment  the  applause  broke  forth  louder  than  ever. 
The  people  were  delighted.  One  or  two  women  with 
smiles  on  their  faces  .arose  as  my  friend  came  down 
the  aisle,  and  extended  their  hands  to  thank  him. 

"  You  did  it  very  well,"  one  said,  and  another. 


EXTEMPORE.  351 

"  It  was  the  best  speech  we  have  had." 

"  I  was  quite  interested ! " 

Eoss  looked  at  them  in  a  dazed  way.  He  could 
not  understand.  Yes ;  even  the  capability  of  believ 
ing  anything  was  gone,  —  gone  from  the  very  women  ! 
Without  a  glance  at  me  he  picked  up  his  hat  from 
where  he  had  been  seated  beside  me,  and  kept  on 
down  the  passage  and  out  at  the  door. 

He  was  no  believer,  but  as  he  walked  away  he  had 
but  one  thought :  "  Is  Persis  become  like  this  ?  — 
Persis  ? " 

"  I  see,"  he  said  at  last  and  in  an  absent  way  as  we 
neared  our  hotel,  "  that  these  foolish  folk  do  not  make 
you  miserable." 

"  Me  ?  miserable  ?  My  dear  fellow,"  I  remarked, 
"the  people  who  are  most  ignorant  of,  who  most 
oppose,  the  blessed  result  toward  which  all  things  and 
every  soul  of  us  tend,  these  work  as  effectively  to 
bring  it  about  as  any.  The  sun  itself  has  not  a  surer 
orbit  than  the  silliest  comet,  a  mere  flying  fleece,  as 
it  is,  of  gas.  No,  sir,  I  hate  no  man,  have  a  kindly 
feeling  even  for  the  shortest-haired  of  those  poor 
women,  knowing  that,  all  unconsciously,  they  are 
helping  toward  the  august  end  ! "  I  waxed  jubilant 
as  I  went  on,  but  I  fear  Eoss  did  not  listen. 


352  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

CHRISTMAS. 

/^HEISTMAS  came,  and  Persis  was  still  absent, 
^^  and  Eachel.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
Eoss  would  have  gone  to  them  if,  from  day  to  day,  he 
had  not  hoped  they  would  return  any  hour,  Dr.  Trent 
and  I  holding  him  back  from  going  after  them  mean 
while.  They  were  to  return  with  the  new  year,  and 
there  was  nothing  for  Eoss  to  do  but  wait.  "  I  must 
see  her ! "  he  one  day  said,  rather  to  himself  than  to 
me,  and  abruptly;  at  the  time  I  thought  he  meant 
Eachel,  for  of  Persis  he  never  spoke. 

"I  am  glad  you  will  be  with  us  at  Christmas,"  I  told 
him.  "  You  can  nowhere  find  it  so  set  forth,  as  it 
were,  by  contrast.  These  barren  fields,  these  lines  of 
stone  fences,  these  severe  winds  and  snow-hidden 
plains  at  which  you  shiver  with  a  deeper  than  bodily 
chill,  —  it  is  these  things  which  produce  these  people. 
This  State,  for  instance,  is  the  steel  die  out  of  which 
comes  the  coin  of  gold  with  its  bold  and  sharp-cut 
bas-relief  thereupon  of  Liberty.  What  an  intense, 
anxious-faced  people  it  is,  you  have  often  remarked. 
Eemember  that,  for  centuries  now,  the  very  quietness 
of  the  Sundays  has  been  because  of  their  deeper  in 
tensity  then  of  thought  and  feeling,  a  thought  and 


CHRISTMAS.  353 

feeling  of  which  all  word  and  act  are  but  the  noisy 
overflow.  Two  holidays  only  they  have  had,  Fourth 
of  July  and  Thanksgiving  ;  and  the  sermon  is  perish 
ing  out  of  the  last  as  the  oration  has  out  of  the  first, 
leaving  little  beside  the  smell  of  pop-crackers  in  the 
one  and  the  fragrance  of  turkey  in  the  other.  Even 
Sunday  is  passing  away." 

"And  Christmas  is  becoming  the  only  holiday," 
said  Ross. 

"You  see  how  it  is."  I  threw  my  hands  apart 
toward  the  proofs  of  that  in  the  streets  along  which 
we  were  passing  as  we  talked.  "  Look  at  those  dry- 
goods  palaces,"  I  said.  "  From  the  days  of  Eve  and 
the  apple,  we  men  have  always  been  flanked  at  our 
austerest  through  the  women.  Tougher,  more  vigi 
lant  men  never  lived  than  those  who  settled  and  built 
up  this  city,  as  they  did,  in  fact,  our  whole  civilization ; 
but  they,  too,  have  had  to  surrender.  Do  you  see 
those  windows  of  plate  glass,  the  rich  and  varied 
millinery  heaped  within  them  in  easy  reach,  appar 
ently,  of  every  hand,  as  well  as  hungering  eye  ? 
Year  by  year  those  windows  are  widening,  the  brill 
iant  display  becoming  more  luxurious.  In  view  of 
Christmas  see  how  they  outdo  all  they  have  attempted 
so  far !  You  said  that  our  liquor-shops  are  innumer 
able;  did  you  ever  think  that  the  confectionery  estab 
lishments  are  to  the  women  and  children  what  the 
dram-shops  are  to  the  men  ?  The  theatres  are  larger, 
finer,  more  crowded  here  than  elsewhere.  Now  I 
know  that  the  harder  men  work,  so  much  the  more 
eagerly  do  they  rush,  in  the  reaction  therefrom,  into 

23 


354  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

amusement,  if  not  into  drink.  So  it  is  with  us. 
Look  at  that  window !  The  creams,  cakes,  candies,  — 
these  show,  here  as  elsewhere,  the  reaction  of  chil 
dren  from  their  incessant  books,  of  the  women  from 
their  hard  housekeeping,  if  not  from  their  excesses  in 
hearing  lectures  and  dabbling  in  the  sciences  and  the 
metaphysics.  It  is  by  the  swing  of  the  pendulum 
between,  between  —  " 

"The  intellect  and  the  stomach,"  Ross  rather 
coarsely  interrupted,  "that  the  clock-work  of  your 
civilization  is  kept  going,  is  it  ? "  But  I  knew  that 
he  enjoyed  the  brilliant  display  as  much  as  myself. 
The  air  was  clear  and  very  cold.  Before  we  were  up 
that  morning  the  deep  snow  had  been  cleared,  under 
stress  of  the  police,  by  every  householder  from  before 
his  own  door,  and  the  snow-ploughs  had  done  the 
same  for  the  tracks  at  least  of  the  horse-cars.  Every 
now  and  then,  as  we  went,  some  man,  hurrying  along 
a  little  too  fast,  slipped  and  fell,  and  spectators 
laughed  louder  than  they  would  have  done  had  not 
Christmas  been  so  near.  More  than  once  groups  of 
ladies  and  children  were  startled  into  shrieks  which 
ended  in  laughter,  as  small  avalanches  of  powdery 
snow  fell  upon  them  from  the  house-tops  high  over 
head.  The  toy-shops  were  in  their  glory,  Saint  Nich 
olas  himself  parading  up  and  down  in  front  of  each, 
with  hoary  beard  and  profuse  liberality  of  advertising 
chromos. 

It  was  the  only  season  of  the  year  in  which  Ross 
would  have  done  so,  but  he  went  with  me  into  the 
warehouses  of  toys,  consenting  meekly  to  the  crowd- 


CHRISTMAS,  355 

ing  of  the  throngs  about  the  laden  counters,  —  for  he 
insisted  on  adding  to  the  purchases  I  was  making 
for  Jean,  little  Guernsey,  and  the  rest.  Except  for 
the  universal  good-humor  which  prevailed,  we  might 
have  been  in  a  baker's  shop  during  a  famine,  in 
a  dispensary  during  a  pestilence,  so  multitudinous 
and  eager  were  we  in  the  making  of  our  purchases. 
There  was  something  delightfully  absurd  in  such 
eagerness  after  dolls,  tin  wagons,  trumpery  gimcracks 
of  all  sorts,  which  could  not  last  a  week,  and  had  no 
practical  use  while  they  did.  But  it  was  in  Eoss  I 
was  most  interested.  He  was  more  of  a  boy  than 
I  had  supposed  possible,  —  more,  I  dare  say,  and  by 
reason  of  Persis,  than  he  ever  was  before. 

There  was  something  in  him  for  which  the  brilliant 
day,  the  happy  crowds  hustling  us  hither  and  thither, 
the  infection  of  good-humor,  could  not  fully  account. 
I  wondered  at  first  if  he  had  heard  from  her,  his 
eye  was  so  bright,  his  smile  so  ready,  his  participation 
in  the  mood  of  the  hour  so  hearty.  Why  it  was  so 
I  did  not  then  know,  but  Persis  might  have  explained. 
He  had  centred  his  one  hope  in  life  upon  her,  and 
upon  her  alone.  Very  slowly,  but  now  for  a  very 
long  time  she  had  come  to  take,  to  and  in  him,  the 
place  of  everything  for  which  men  care.  Home  he 
had  none.  Not  as  yet  had  he  come  to  see  in  the  re 
united  Republic  something  unspeakably  greater  than 
his  lost  Confederacy.  Even  the  love  and  trust  men 
give  to  God,  Ross  reserved  for  Persis.  "What  she  had 
come  to  be  he  did  not  know ;  how  she  would  receive 
him  he  could  not  say.  Nearer  to  nature  than  other 


356  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

men,  his  instincts  were  deeper  and  truer  in  that  too ; 
and  there  was  something  in  Christmas  itself  which 
strengthened  his  intuitions  concerning  Persis  into 
certainties.  As  I  afterward  learned,  he  had  been  out 
that  very  day,  in  behalf  of  Rachel,  but  especially  of 
Persis.  Now  he  insisted  oil  helping  me  bear  to  our 
rooms  the  purchases  we  had  made;  he  would  not  wait 
to  have  them  sent. 

We  were  not  the  only  ones  bearing  brown-paper 
parcels.  Our  way  lay  past  one  of  the  railroad  depots, 
and,  at  his  own  suggestion,  we  lingered  within  it  to 
watch  the  crowds  of  people  swarming  in  and  out. 

"They  live,"  I  explained  to  him,  "ten,  twenty,  fifty, 
a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  out  of  town,  in  villages 
or  on  farms.  Men  and  women,  young  men  and  girls, 
they  come  in  every  day  except  Sunday  to  business, 
most  of  them,  and  go  back  at  night.  The  tides  are 
not  as  regular.  From  five  until  ten  of  mornings 
they  are  at  their  flow ;  from  five  till  ten  at  night  they 
are  at  their  ebb.  To-day  they  are  reinforced  by  those 
who  have  come  in  to  buy  presents.  They  will  pay  as 
much,  if  not  more,  than  if  they  bought  nearer  home ; 
but  this  city  gives,  beyond  any  other,  a  peculiar  glory 
to  what  is  bought  in  it.  Look  at  the  people  ! " 

It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  as  we  halted  in  the 
wide  doorways  of  the  depot,  and  the  movement  was 
homeward.  Fat  and  lean,  tall  and  short,  old  and 
young,  male,  but  chiefly  female,  —  it  was  a  proces 
sion  of  bundles,  big  and  little,  with  all  sorts  of  people 
attached  thereto.  The  current  ran  into  the  depot  at 
that  hour  as  steadily  as  a  swollen  brook;  and  now 


CHRISTMAS.  357 

it  was  a  brook  in  autumn,  laden  with  brown-paper 
packages  in  place  of  the  sere  leaves  of  the  forest. 

Sharp-visaged  women,  thin  and  spare,  whom  we 
knew  at  a  glance  to  have  given  over  their  last  hopes 
of  marriage ;  sandy-bearded  men,  recognized  by  their 
weather-beaten  faces  to  be  farmers ;  women  stout  or 
scant  of  flesh,  mothers  evidently  of  children ;  fragile 
girls,  pallid  from  work  at  sewing-machines  or  weary 
standing  at  looms  or  counters,  at  four  dollars  a  week ; 
old  men  whose  intense  shrewdness  had  puckered 
their  lips  and  eyelids  into  microscopic  consideration 
of  the  veriest  trifles,  —  every  soul  of  them  had,  thank 
Heaven !  a  parcel. 

"  Yonder,"  I  pointed  out  to  Eoss,  "  is  a  lad  with  a 
cigar,  which  he  will  be  very  careful  to  be  through 
with  before  he  gets  home.  He  is  a  clerk  at  a  hun 
dred  dollars  a  year;  but  he  takes  a  glass  of  lager 
already,  as  he  does  his  cigar  and  oath,  in  order  to  be 
as  tall  a  man  as  his  companions.  They  do  not  know 
at  his  house  all  he  is  up  to ;  but  see !  he  has  saved 
out  of  his  daily  twenty  cents  for  lunch  enough  to 
buy  a  velocipede  for  his  little  brother.  Do  you 
observe  that  poor  fellow  with  a  crutch  ?  He  has  that 
box  under  his  arm  because  he  did  not  have  money 
enough  left  to  send  it  home  by  express ;  and  he  en 
joys  carrying  it.  Look  at  that  hollow-cheeked  woman 
in  black,  —  the  one  stopping  out  of  the  rush  to  get 
through  with  her  attack  of  coughing.  You  can  count 
her  children  by  the  bundles  under  her  arm, —  one,  two, 
four,  six  ;  not  one  of  them  old  enough  yet  to  help  her. 
That  red-faced  scamp  on  the  left  has  no  bundle; 


358  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

everything  has  gone  for  liqtior;  but  he  isn't  drunk 
to-day;  he  is  carrying  himself  home  sober  for  once,  as 
the  only  present  he  can  give.  He  will  make  fifty 
promises  to-night,  and  his  wife,  poor  fool,  will  try  to 
believe  he  will  keep  them  this  time ;  but  he  won't." 

"  Where  are  the  children  ?  I  see  very  few,"  said 
my  companion. 

"  If  you  want  to  see  children  you  must  go  into 
the  Irish  quarters.  Your  section  has  its  sins.  Here 
a  dastardly  crime  is  one  answer  to  your  question. 
But  there  are  children,  children  waiting  at  home  in 
a  fever  of  impatience.  These  people  will  steal  in 
through  the  back  door  with  their  bundles  when  they 
get  home,  will  hide  them  under  beds  and  behind 
chests  until  to-morrow,  rebuking  the  children  mean 
time  for  foolish  expectations.  What  children  are 
here  have  been  in  town  at  work.  Yonder  is  a  little 
girl  with  a  bundle  bigger  than  herself.  You  might 
know  that  she  is  the  oldest,  and  has  to  support  the 
other  orphans." 

"Your  people,"  my  friend  said,  "are,  as  I  have 
often  remarked,  the  thriftiest,  saddest  people  alive, 
but  they  don't  seem  so  to-day."  He  had  heaped 
his  packages  at  his  feet,  and  was  considering  the 
crowd  which  poured  in  past  us,  stroking  down  his 
black  mustache  with  the  palm  of  his  left  hand,  the 
scar  across  the  back  of  it. 

"The  old  force  is  in  them,"  he  said.  "The  war 
showed  that.  Just  now  the  force  has  taken  to  frol 
icking.  How  hard  they  go  at  it !  It  is  like  the 
nourishes  a  man  makes  after  he  has  signed  his  name, 


CHRISTMAS.  359 

—  the  foolish  curlycues,  you  know.  It  makes  me 
figurative  to  be  among  you." 

"  There  is  something  in  Christmas  ! "  I  said. 

"  It  is  largely  the  doing  of  Dickens.  He  has  popu 
larized  it  by  his  sentimentalities." 

"  He  is  but  one  of  a  myriad  influences  converging 
to  one  end.  I  belong,  as  you  know,  to  no  church, 
but,"  I  urged,  "  as  matter  of  fact,  is  Victoria  a  queen 
as  really  as  Christ  is  a  king  ?  No,  sir ;  kingship  is  not 
waning  more  evidently  from  czar  and  emperor  than 
it  is  increasing  in  the  man  whose  birthday  is  becom 
ing  the  chief  holiday,  and  the  gladdest,  of  all  nations. 
This  universal  glow  of  joy  and  generosity  which  is 
melting  the  midwinter  into  more  than  tropical  happi 
ness  and  plenty,  what  is  it  but  the  flush  upon  the 
sky,  the  mildness  on  the  air,  which  heralds  the  sun 
soon  to  arise  ?  That,  my  dear  fellow,  is  the  most  ra 
diant  of  my  certainties." 

"  If  I  get  my  wish  this  Christmas  season,  I,"  Ross 
suddenly  said,  "  will  try  to  believe  as  you  do." 

I  did  not  understand,  but  made  no  reply,  and  we 
went  on  our  way  to  our  hotel  through  streets  thronged 
by  the  burden-bearing  crowds,  and  brilliant  by  this 
time  with  lighted  windows,  joyous  with  the  unaccus 
tomed  good-humor  of  people  plodding  cheerily  along 
through  the  snow  and  the  crush  of  the  multitude. 

Next  day  we  were  to  have  met  Rachel  and  Persis 
to  dinner  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Trent.  I  did  not  know 
why,  but  I  was  almost  afraid  to  look  at  Ross  when, 
on  our  arrival,  we  were  told  that  they  could  not  be 
with  us.  Neither  did  Mrs.  Trent  look  at  him,  as  she 


BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

said  to  us  at  table  and  over  our  turkey,  "  Persis  is 
still  quite  unwell,  and  Rachel,  dear  girl,  is  unwilling 
to  leave  her.  Don't  be  cross,  Doctor,"  she  added,  in 
the  same  breath. 

"I  am  not  cross,  my  dear,"  her  husband  replied. 
"I  ought  to  be  used  to  it  by  this  time."  He  cer 
tainly  did  full  justice  to  our  excellent  dinner.  But 
a  cloud  rested  upon  us  :  any  stranger  could  have 
seen  that  by  the  effort  we  made  to  talk  about  too 
many  things.  Jean  wras  a  tall  girl  now,  and  a  very 
pretty  one.  Ross  sat  by  my  side,  and  I  did  not  care, 
as  I  said,  to  look  at  him.  He  had  come  with  me  to 
the  house  in  such  almost  boyish  gladness  of  heart, 
and  now  he  was  so  silent.  His  face  was  reflected, 
however,  in  the  clear  eyes  of  Jean  sitting  opposite 
him.  There  was  that  in  it  which  darkened  her  happi 
ness  ;  even  little  Guernsey  glanced  at  him  with  appre 
hension,  and  both  of  them  were  glad  to  get  away 
from  the  table  sooner  than  they  would  otherwise  have 
done.  We  could  hear  them  rejoicing  in  the  parlor 
over  what  Mrs.  Trent  declared  to  be  the  shameful  ex 
travagance  of  the  gifts  to  them  of  Ross  and  myself. 

My  friend  was  too  much  master  of  himself  to  show 
his  disappointment,  not  at  least  beyond  the  first  half- 
hour.  In  some  way  Rachel  and  Persis  had  learned 
at  last  of  his  presence  in  the  city,  and  had  written  to 
him  through  Mrs.  Trent.  It  may  be  that  the  one  or 
the  other  of  them  said  something  to  her,  too,  in  a 
letter,  for  I  could  not  help  seeing  that  some  new 
mood  had  fallen  upon  Mrs.  Trent.  It  was  plain  she 
took  a  deeper  interest  in  Ross,  —  in  me,  too,  for  that 


CHRISTMAS.  361 

matter.  There  was  more  than  anxious  uncertainty 
in  her  manner  toward  him  and  toward  me.  She 
seemed  to  suffer  under  some  apprehension.  This 
helped  Koss  and  myself,  I  think,  to  do  what  we 
could  to  make  the  time  pass  pleasantly.  We  would 
have  succeeded  better  if  it  had  not  been  for  her 
husband.  When  a  patient  was  concerned,  he  would 
have  his  own  way  against  even  his  wife.  Moreover, 
he  was  too  much  absorbed  in  the  case  in  hand  as  a 
"  case  "  to  remember  other  persons  and  things  as  he 
should  have  done. 

"  I  used  to  be  dreadfully  concerned,"  he  now  re 
marked,  "about  people.  When  I  undertook  a  diffi 
cult  case  I  would  rush  from  it  to  my  books,  from  my 
books  to  it  incessantly.  All  night  long  I  lay  awake 
worrying.  If  I  had  kept  it  up  it  would  have  killed 
me.  More  than  that,  it  would,  before  I  died,  have 
killed  my  patients.  Now  I  am  bravely  over  all  such 
nonsense.  When  I  know  all  that  the  books  say, 
when  I  know  my  patient  almost  as  well  as  a  Yankee 
clock-maker  does  his  clock,  I  simply  do  what  is  to 
be  done  and  then  stop.  If  men  and  women  will  not 
do  what  I  want,  since  I  cannot  call  in  the  police  and 
force  them  into  doing  as  I  wish,  I  let  them  alone. 
Many  a  time,  I  know  the  woman  will  get  well  if 
she  will  do  so  and  so,  or  not  do  this  and  that;  if 
she  don't,  she  will  die.  She  may  be  as  good,  as  lov 
able,  as  necessary  to  her  family,  as  Mrs.  Trent  there, 
if  you  please,  but  when  she  won't  obey  me,  I  sit 
down  and  eat  my  dinner,  and  let  her  die !  Sixty 
thousand  persons  kill  themselves  with  their  own 


362  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

hands  every  year  in  Europe.  As  yet,"  Dr.  Trent  said 
sententiously,  "  only  ten  thousand  suicides  a  year  are 
recorded  for  America.  But,  think  of  it!  Every 
year,  in  Europe,  two  thousand  boys  and  girls  take 
their  own  lives  ! " 

A  man  accustomed  to  the  dissecting-table  can  say 
anything  ;  but,  with  Ross  to  hear  it,  I  would  have 
been  glad  if  Trent  had  held  his  tongue. 

"  There  is  but  one  thing  in  the  world  —  By  the  by," 
the  Doctor  interrupted  himself,  "  it  is  Christmas,  and 
I  give  it  as  a  conundrum.  Colonel  Urwoldt,  what  is 
the  only  thing  on  earth  stronger  than  a  woman's 
will?" 

"  Don't  answer  him,  Colonel,"  Mrs.  Trent  broke  in  ; 
"  it 's  an  old  riddle  of  his ;  he  says  it  is  a  woman's 
'  won't.'  You  cannot  think  how  dreadfully  he  slanders 
my  sex."  And,  with  a  warning  glance  at  her  husband, 
she  hastened  to  change  the  subject. 

But  her  husband  was  either  as  forgetful  as  a  babe  of 
the  situation,  or,  more  likely,  he  was  surgically  deter 
mined  and  obstinate,  now  that  the  theme  was  in  hand. 
"  The  time  was,"  he  persisted,  not  heeding  what  we  were 
talking  about,  and  at  the  first  opportunity,  "  when  I  was 
terribly  exercised  about  matters  which  do  not  disturb 
me  now.  You  read  of  some  horrible  affair  in  every 
paper  you  open,  some  outrage,  abominable  cruelty, 
murder.  Once  I  used  to  groan,  '  Why  was  I  not  on 
the  spot  to  stop  it  ?  If  I  could  but  have  been  on 
hand  at  the  instant  with  club  or  revolver ! '  I  don't 
worry  myself  that  way  these  days  ;  why  should  I  ? " 

"Let  us  talk  of  something  more  pleasant,"  inter- 


CHRISTMAS.  363 

posed  his  wife,  for  we  all  felt  that  the  Doctor  was 
about  to  say  unpleasant  things. 

But,  no,  there  is  a  fatality  in  it;  he  persisted,  al 
though  he  knew  he  ought  not.  "  There  is  death,  for 
instance,",  he  remarked.  "To  us  death  is  the  most 
appalling  of  events.  What  folly  !  Looking  back  from 
another  life,  it  may  seem  the  best  thing  which  could 
befall  a  man.  Read  of  the  ravages  of  plague  and  war, 
of  famine  and  disaster !  A  baby  dies  as  easily  as  a 
flower.  Put  a  particle  of  prussic  acid  on  the  tongue 
of  Hercules  and  —  " 

"  Steven  ! "  Mrs.  Trent  exclaimed. 

"  No,  sir.  Our  Maker  does  not  attach,"  the  Doctor 
went  on,  "  the  value  to  life  we  do.  All  of  us  do  die 
sooner  or  —  " 

"  We  won't  listen  to  you  ! "  His  wife  got  up  from 
the  table,  and  we  all  arose,  not  until  I  remarked  that 
Ross  was  listening,  looking  in  his  old  way  so  steadily 
at  the  speaker.  Evidently  he  was  struck  with  the 
idea,  and  he  went  with  the  Doctor  to  his  study,  while 
I  gladly  remained  with  Mrs.  Trent  and  the  children. 
As  I  supposed,  Dr.  Trent  was  as  angry  as  it  was  pos 
sible  for  him  to  be  with  Miss  Persis  for  her  imprudent 
course  in  regard  to  her  health. 

"He  thinks  it  would  have  been  better  for  her," 
Mrs.  Trent  told  me  in  the  end,  "if  she  had  never  come 
to  the  city.  The  Doctor  is  dreadfully  old-school  in 
his  notions.  He  says  that  women  may  come  at 
last  to  take  the  highest  positions.  Extraordinary 
women  have  done  so  in  the  past,  it  may  come  to  be  a 
common  thing  for  them  to  do  so,  but  it  will  require 


364  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

generations  going  before.  During  many  a  long  year 
they  must  slowly  toughen  themselves,  he  thinks, 
before,  as  a  sex,  they  can  stand  it.  Many  a  poor 
thing,"  Mrs.  Trent  mourned,  "  must  fall  as  a  martyr 
before  that." 

And  then  we  talked  about  Colonel  Urwoldt,  and 
again  the  flutter  of  uncertainty,  of  apprehension,  came 
into  her  eyes  —  for  me  ?  for  my  friend  ?  I  could  not 
tell  which. 

Dr.  Steven  Trent  gave  himself  so  much  to  his  prac 
tice  among  women  that  he  made  a  hobby  of  it.  It  is 
a  pity  a  man  cannot  become  a  specialist  without  being 
afflicted,  more  or  less,  as  by  mania.  To  escape  becom 
ing  brutal  the  Doctor  cultivated  the  poetic  view  of 
things,  especially  as  his  sympathetic  nature  found,  I 
suppose,  its  only  relief  therein.  More  than  once, 
woman,  he  told  me,  being  to  man  what  music  is  to 
the  words,  it  follows  that,  unlike  man,  she  must  be 
rhythmic,  varying,  alternative  in  her  moods.  I  lis 
tened,  amazed  at  the  analogies  he  drew  from  nature. 
Man  was  the  rocky  coast,  woman  as  the  ocean  com 
ing  and  going  in  its  tides ;  and  much  more  to  that 
effect. 

"  The  charming  difference  between  herself  and  us," 
he  said  at  last,  "  the  essential  loveliness  of  woman, 
consists  largely  in  the  variableness  of  her  health  and 
consequent  states  of  soul  as  of  body.  At  one  time, 
and  herself  as  powerless  in  regard  to  it  as  a  floating 
feather,  she  rises  to  the  highest  crest,  so  to  speak,  of 
her  nature.  Then  she  reaches  a  height,  Guernsey,  far 
beyond  us ;  she  does  things,  says  things,  feels  things, 


,  CHRISTMAS.  365 

yes,  and  writes  things,  quite  above  us,  nearer  the 
stars.  But  then,  and  because,  alas,  of  that,  she  has 
her  ebbs  of  being  also.  Then  she  is  less  than  herself. 
We  do  not  get  as  high,  Guernsey,  as  she  does ;  but 
then  we  cannot  get  quite  as  low,  —  low,  physically, 
mark  that,  —  and  therefore  mentally,  I  dare  not  add 
morally.  We  cannot  equal  her  at  her  highest;  we 
should  keep  away  from  her  at  her  lowest ! " 

The  Doctor  had  much  more  to  say  to  the  same 
effect  before  and  after  the  day  of  our  dining  with  him, 
and  I  remembered  it,  ah,  how  well !  afterward. 


366  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

A   SOCRATIC   SOIREE. 

ACHEL  and  Persis  were  to  return  to  the  city 
as  soon  as  the  health  of  the  latter  allowed, 
before  long,  it  was  hoped.  Eoss  spoke  about  them 
less  than  before,  but  I  fancied  he  was  growing  rest 
less,  although,  as  I  knew  better  afterward,  if  ever  a 
man  hid  himself  in  himself  from  others,  and  because 
he  was  feeling  so  deeply,  he  did.  A  few  days  after 
Christmas  the  meeting  of  one  of  our  Socratic  Soirees, 
as  they  were  called  half  in  joke,  took  place,  and  I 
was  glad  to  secure  an  invitation  for  my  friend.  The 
assemblages  comprised,  at  times,  some  of  the  best 
people,  in  certain  lines  at  least,  in  the  city,  and  was 
held  from  house  to  house  of  its  members,  a  card 
thereto  being  considered  quite  a  prize. 

When  the  evening  arrived  I  took  Eoss  with  me. 
Ensconcing  ourselves  in  a  corner  of  one  of  the  large 
and  handsome  parlors,  I  explained  things  to  him  as 
the  company  dropped  in. 

"  Here,"  I  told  him,  "  are  men  and  women  holding 
all  conceivable  views  upon  every  possible  topic.  Now 
and  then  a  merchant  or  inventor  attends  to  hear  us 
talk,  and  to  see  any  distinguished  person  who  may 
be  here ;  but  such  people  consider  themselves,  I  fear, 


A  SOCRATIC  SOIR&E.  367 

as  having  already  climbed  about  the  only  practicable 
Olympus  in  reach,  and  care  little  for  our  discussions. 
That  substantial  citizen  by  the  mantel  is  one  of  them. 
Yonder  is  a  celebrated  Professor;  that  white-headed 
gentleman  is  an  eloquent  divine ;  the  person  beyond 
him  is  a  sculptor ;  the  lady  at  the  window  is  a  fine 
musician ;  that  gentleman  is  a  painter ;  the  lady  con 
versing  with  him  is  an  authoress  ;"  and,  naming  each, 
I  went  through  the  list,  as  far  as  I  knew  those  present, 
of  the  diversified  gathering.  "I  do  not  suppose,"  I 
said  in  the  end,  "  that  there  are  two  individuals  here 
who  hold  precisely  the  same  opinion  upon  politics,  art, 
religion,  education,  philanthropical  endeavor  ;  but  the 
fact  that  a  person  is  here  at  all  is  itself  proof  that 
each  one  is  as  willing  —  not  quite,  almost  so  —  to 
hear  as  to  speak,  either  in  defence  of  or  opposition  to 
anything,  everything,  which  can  be  held  by  such  as 
are  essentially  gentlemen  and  ladies.  Few  cities  in 
the  land,"  I  added  with  some  pride,  "can  show  a 
room  full  of  persons  more  variedly  yet  distinctively 
influential,  so  far  as  ideas  have  influence.  I  am  glad 
you  can  be  with  us  to-night.  There  is  Mr.  Adair." 

For  that  gentleman  came  in  as  I  spoke,  ushering, 
to  the  astonishment  of  Ross  and  myself,  Persis  into  the 
room.  But  I  did  not  call  her  Persis  even  to  myself; 
beyond  all  doubt  she  was  now  Miss  Persis  Paige. 
Her  dress  was  a  well-fitting  yet  flowing  fabric  of  some 
shade  of  green,  which  became  her  so  wonderfully  well 
that  I  murmured  to  myself,  "  I  know  it  is  Rachel's  se 
lection,"  and  I  knew  also  that  Rachel  had  come  back 
to  town  by  the  way  in  which  the  hair  of  Miss  Persis 


368  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

was  arranged.  I  was  right.  At  the  moment  Rachel 
herself  entered  with  Major  McAllister.  The  Major 
was  arrayed  in  the  glossiest  of  linen,  the  finest  of 
broadcloth.  His  whiskers  were  fresh  from  the  hand 
of  his  barber,  for  he  was  one  of  those  gentlemen  who 
remind  you  of  that  artist  as  inevitably  as  a  freshly 
mown  lawn  does  of  the  gardener.  He  wore  a  yellow 
vest  and  heavy  chain  of  gold.  His  cravat  was  as  irre 
proachable  as  his  manner,  each  having  in  it  starch 
sufficient  to  enable  it  to  retain  to  the  end  its  correct 
set.  He  was  broad,  bald,  eminently  commodious,  and 
you  wondered  that  he  was  not  married,  as  in  passing 
upon  the  street  a  desirable  but  vacant  lot,  you  wonder 
why  it  has  not  been  built  upon.  Eachel  was  looking 
well,  with  that  peculiar  charm  which  does  not  mark 
city  life.  One  never  thinks  of  Mary,  or  Martha 
Washington,  except  as  living  in  the  country.  The 
broad  low  brow,  the  full  cheeks,  the  old-fashioned 
freshness  of  complexion,  speak  of  Mt  Vernon,  of 
its  substantial  sideboards,  ample  porches,  grassy 
yards,  fat  kine,  wide  fields,  the  Potomac  flowing  near. 
So  was  it  with  Rachel.  You  knew  at  a  glance  she 
too  was  from  and  of  the  country  in  distinction  from 
the  city ;  that  she  would  rather  live  there  than  in 
Paris  itself.  As  I  looked  at  her  I  saw  that  I  could 
no  longer  speak  of  her  without  adding  the  Miss  to 
her  name,  as  in  the  case  of  her  more  intellectual 
friend.  Throughout  the  evening  she  listened  to  what 
was  said  with  the  pleased  attention  of  one  who  has 
only  to  listen.  No  one  asked  her  to  say  anything; 
her  repose  of  manner  forbade  it. 


A  SOCK  A  TIC  SOIREE.  369 

As  I  said,  neither  Ross  nor  I  was  aware  that  our 
friends  had  got  back  from  the  country..  The  fact,  as 
I  afterward  learned  from  Rachel,  was  that  Persia 
could  no  longer  be  prevented  from  coming.  "  It  was 
hard  enough  to  keep  her  there  before  she  knew  of 
the  arrival  of  Ross ;  after  that,"  Rachel  said  with  a 
meaning  more  than  her  words  conveyed,  "  it  was 
impossible  !  She  was  far  from  well  enough,"the  near 
ness  to  her  of  Ross  excited  her  almost  dangerously ; 
but  she  would  come."  They  reached  the  city  barely 
in  time  to  dress  for  the  soiree.  Persis  was  sure  I 
would  have  Ross  there  with  me,  and  persisted  in 
coming. 

It  was  now  that  I  began  fully  to  understand  mat 
ters.  Ross  did  not  seem  to  know  that  Rachel  was 
present.  From  the  moment  Persis  came  in  his  eyes 
were  upon  her;  and,  considering  how  strong  a  man 
he  was,  what  experiences  he  had  known,  they  were 
such  wistful,  such  hungry  eyes !  He  had  not  seen 
her  for  so  long,  she  was  so  greatly  changed,  who  can 
say  what  he  thought  as  he  watched  her  ?  It  was 
little  he  listened  to  me,  but  I  went  on  with  my  duty 
to  him  as  to  a  stranger. 

"  Did  you  ever  notice,"  I  whispered  to  Ross,  "  how 
the  habit  of  public  speaking  stamps  itself  upon  the 
face  of  a  man,  upon  his  whole  person  ?  I  could 
show  you  trees  along  this  coast  which  tell  of  the 
wintry  winds.  Now,  look  at  that  man  ! "  And  I  indi 
cated  with  my  eyes  an  advocate  of  reform  in  the 
room  who  had  been  all  his  life  in  a  forlorn  hope  of 
one  kind  or  another.  "Do  you  not  see  the  same 

24 


370  BLESSED    SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

blown-backward,  yet  persistent  aspect  one  observes  in 
the  struggling  trees  ?  More  or  less  it  is  true  of  every 
public  speaker.  There  is  hardly  a  gentleman  here 
who  is  not  such.  They  have  faced  audiences  until, 
look  at  them !  they  have  the  aspect  of  cliffs  washed 
by  the  seas." 

.  Eoss,  looking  at  Persis,  had  nothing  to  say.  On 
coming  into  the  room  she  had  looked  almost  wildly 
around ;  had  seen  him  ;  her  cheeks  flushed,  then  paled  ; 
her  eyes  glittered.  After  that  she  guarded  herself 
from  looking  our  way  any  more. 

As  I  came  slowly  to  understand  things,  I  also  looked 
keenly  at  Persis  as  she  stood  talking  to  Mr.  Adair, 
and  then  to  one  friend  and  another.  Her  face  was 
thin,  but  so  full  of  color  that  I  was  ready  to  pro 
nounce  Dr.  Trent  a  quack ;  there  was  no  sign  in  her 
of  ill-health.  She  held  herself  erect,  was  outwardly 
as  composed  as  any  woman  present.  To  my  eyes  no 
lady  there  —  Rachel  excepted,  and  she  in  a  totally 
different  way  —  was  to  be  compared  with  her.  Her 
beauty  suggested  so  much  more  than  mere  beauty  that 
I  heard  the  question  buzzed  around  Ross  and  myself, 
"  Who  is  she  ? "  "  Who  can  she  be  ? "  "  What  books 
did  she  write  ? "  Then  something  was  said  about  Mr. 
Adair.  Unless  I  mistake,  envious  glances  were  min 
gled  with  those  of  admiration.  I  winced  lest  Ross 
should  heed  a  criticism  or  two  upon  her  which  fell 
upon  my  ears.  I  need  not  have  feared.  Oblivious  to 
everything  beside,  he  was  asking  himself  if  she  could 
indeed  be  the  sunburned  Ocklawahaw  girl  whom 
he  used  to  see  in  her  calico  frock,  her  feet  bare  and 


A   SOCRATIC  SOIREE.  371 

very  brown.  She  was  to  him  as  if  he  saw  a  striking 
portrait  of  her  instead,  idealized,  in  a  costly  frame, 
and  by  the  hand  of  a  master.  He  had  forgotten  that 
I  was  with  him.  Drawing  myself  back,  I  glanced 
again  at  his  face.  His  eyes  were  settled  upon  her 
with  such  steadiness  as  is  not  allowable  in  good  so 
ciety.  There  was  an  unpleasant  suggestion  in  them 
of  the  eyes  of  a  panther  crouched  in  ambush  and 
watching  a  doe  grazing  nearer  and  nearer.  If  he 
had  said  anything  to  me  about  her,  I  should  have 
liked  it  better;  he  was  too  entirely  natural  for  the 
place  we  were  in.  She  must  have  felt  his  gaze. 
One  feels  it  when  a  lens  brings  the  sun  to  a  focus 
upon  one's  hand,  and  it  was  impossible  for  her  not 
to  know  it,  when  love  so  deep,  so  single,  love  which 
had  waited  for  so  long,  love  like  that  of  this  man 
of  the  earlier  ages,  was  centred  upon  her.  By  the 
paling  of  her  cheeks  as  by  the  flushing  I  saw  that  she 
did  feel  it ;  what  I  did  not  know  was,  that  it  took 
all  the  strength  she  had  to  hold  herself  in  hand. 
Even  then,  while  she  loved  him,  she  defied  him  as  she 
defied  herself !  Not  for  nothing  had  she  been  train 
ing  herself  all  these  years;  she  would  be  such  a 
woman  as  he  did  not  imagine  a  woman  could  come 
to  be.  She  would  be  stronger  than  he,  than  herself, 
and  he  should  see  that  she  was  ! 

There  was  a  movement  in  the  room.  The  host  of 
the  evening  arose,  manuscript  in  hand,  to  read  an 
essay.  With  the  rest  of  the  company,  Persis  settled 
herself  in  her  chair  to  listen,  and  Boss,  seated  beside 
me  in  the  rear  of  the  assembly,  was  fain  to  transfer 


372  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

his  gaze  to  the  face  of  the  reader.  I  came,  as  has  been 
said,  to  know  it  afterward,  as  I  did  not  even  then, 
that  my  friend  had  an  almost  wolfish  hunger  while 
with  us  to  learn  whatever  we  could  tell  him.  This 
Pilate  did  not  ask,  What  is  Truth  ?  and  turn  away  not 
waiting  for  an  answer.  His  mind  was  in  at  least  as 
vigorous  a  measure  of  health  and  appetite  as  his  body, 
and  it  pains  me  now  to  the  heart  as  I  think  how 
intensely  he  wished  to  know,  wished  to  know  while 
then  and  there,  at  the  very  table,  so  to  speak,  of  the 
very  men  and  women  of  all  the  land  who  professed 
to  be  best  able  to  impart  the  food  for  which  he  was 
dying. 

It  so  chanced  that  the  essay  was  upon  "Truth." 
No  man  in  all  that  region  had  more  reputation  for 
wisdom  than  our  host.  He  was  a  pallid,  slight  man, 
who  gave  in  the  reading  whatever  was  lacking  to 
the  writing.  We  accompanied  him  with  breathless 
attention.  From  the  first  sentence  we  had  the  feel 
ing  that  he  knew  and  was  on  the  point  of  announcing 
something  new,  valuable,  of  the  utmost  importance. 
He  was  a  miner  who  was  being  followed  by  eager 
friends  to  the  spot  among  the  Sierras  where  he  had 
found  and  left,  hastening  back  to  tell  us  of  it,  the  larg 
est  nugget  of  gold  eyes  ever  saw.  And  now,  strik 
ing,  so  to  speak,  straight  across  the  rocky  ridges, 
our  leader  hurried  on  with  steps  so  rapid  and  confi 
dent  that  even  Eoss  himself  almost  shared  his  con 
fidence  of  finding  treasure ;  the  luck  of  my  friend 
having  been,  alas !  so  bad  hitherto.  Arrived  at  last 
upon  the  edge  of  the  inmost  ravine  where  lay  the 


A  SOCRATIC  SOIR£E.  373 

priceless  prize,  in  the  very  act,  as  it  were,  of  pointing 
it  out  to  our  ardent  gaze,  the  distinguished  pioneer 
suddenly  ceased  reading  and  sat  down,  leaving  us  star 
ing  into  vacancy.  With  lips  still  parted  by  reason  of 
the  hope  and  haste  with  which  we  had  hurried  after 
him,  each  of  us  looked  with  blank  inquiry  in  the 
face  of  his  neighbor,  and,  while  all  smiled,  it  was 
so  ludicrous,  Eoss  forgot  himself  for  the  moment  and 
laughed  aloud. 

"  What  struck  me,"  he  said  when  I  remonstrated 
with  him  for  it  afterward  and  in  private,  "was  the 
politeness  of  your  people.  It  reminds  me  of  what  hap 
pens  when  I  am  hunting  wild  turkeys.  As  you  may 
know,  they  are  the  shyest  of  game  ;  and  the  company 
last  night  were  like  people  lying  low,  alert  but  quiet, 
in  the  brush,  with  a  drove  of  fat  turkeys  nearly  but 
not  quite  in  range  of  their  rifles.  The  one  thing  the 
hunters  do  is  to  keep  silent ;  there  must  not  be,  how 
ever  excited  they  are,  a  whisper,  a  motion.  What 
that  indispensable  silence  is  to  these,  politeness  is  to 
your  philosophers.  Whatever  you  think,  feel,  have 
to  say,  and  however  strongly,  the  essential  thing  is 
to  be  polite.  That  is  all  right,  of  course ;  half  civi 
lized  as  I  am,  I  admired  it ;  your  friends  have  reached 
the  self-control  of  heroes." 

That  was  afterward.  When  the  essayist  ceased  to 
read,  the  company,  after  a  decorous  silence,  were 
called  upon  in  turn  for  their  opinions  upon  the  essay 
and  its  topic.  It  was  impossible  for  language  to  ex 
press  more  tersely,  lucidly,  even  strikingly,  the  ideas 
which  the  reader  had  advanced.  Hardly  a  sentence 


374  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

but  was  an  epigram,  and  each  person  was  full  of 
deserved  eulogy  upon  what  was  presented,  adding 
thereto  some  suggestion  of  his  or  her  own,  in  dissent 
or  assent.  "  It  was  remarkable,"  Ross  told  me  when 
we  talked  it  over  afterward,  "  what  bright  things  peo 
ple  said  under  the  impulse  of  the  essay ;  the  dullest 
man  there  caught  from  it  the  trick  of  smartness.  For 
the  moment  the  reader  actually  inspired  the  intel 
lects  of  all,  —  only  their  intellects,  mind,  —  as  the 
Christ  is  said  to  inspire  also  the  heart  and  the  soul." 

Ross  was  right ;  the  essay  had  the  effect  of  cham 
pagne.  Many  beautiful  and  suggestive  things  were 
said  until,  nearly  the  last  of  all  who  were  called  upon, 
Miss  Persis  Paige  was  asked  for  her  opinion.  It  was 
the  first  time  she  had  had  such  an  opportunity.  I 
knew  that  she  could  not  but  be  much  interested. 
We  have  all  heard  the  music  which  a  cunning  per 
former  can  draw  out  of  the  rim  of  a  glass  goblet,  and 
there  was  a  certain  subdued  intensity  in  the  little  she 
said,  which  thrilled  the  others  almost  as  much  as  Ross 
and  myself,  it  told  us  so  well  the  depth  of  her — shall 
I  name  it  excitement  ?  After  expressing  her  thanks 
to  the  essayist,  she  strove  to  gather  up  the  criti 
cisms  and  suggestions  of  those  who  had  spoken.  Yes, 
Truth  was  the  harmony  of  things,  the  symphony  of 
all  conceivable  sounds,  the  choral  melody  of  all 
movement,  the  blending  of  all  contradiction  in  the 
end  into  an  absolute  unit,  the  passing  of  paradox  into 
proverb,  the  evolution  of  doubt  into  assurance.  I 
cannot  repeat  all  she  said,  for  I  was  sympathizing 
with  her  in  her  evident  alarm  at  her  own  earnest- 


A  SOCRATIC  SOIR£E.  375 

ness,  her  haste  to  say  as  little  as  she  could  and  stop. 
She  ended,  I  remember,  in  saying  that  Truth  was 
like  the  statue  of  the  veiled  Isis,  upon  which  was 
inscribed,  "  I  am  all  that  hath  been,  is,  or  shall  be, 
and  my  veil  no  man  can  lift ; "  but  my  chief  impres 
sion  was  of  perhaps  exaggerated  pride  in  the  lady 
herself,  of  admiration  exceeding  surprise. 

There  was  a  murmur  of  applause  when  she  was 
silent,  and  I  did  not  need  to  see  the  face  of  Mr. 
Adair  to  know  what  he  thought  of  the  eloquent 
woman. 

Even  before  Ross  Urwoldt  was  called  upon,  I 
shrank  a  little  from  him  with  apprehension,  it  was  so 
much  like  a  personal  encounter,  too,  between  Persis 
and  himself;  then  I  recalled  to  myself  that  he  was 
as  essentially  a  gentleman  as  any  man  alive,  and 
rested  on  that.  All  along,  people  had  glanced  at  him 
with  respectful  curiosity.  When  he  began  to  speak, 
there  was  that  in  his  tone  and  coolness  of  manner 
which  confirmed  the  impression  that  he  was,  in  a 
deeper  sense  than  of  birth  and  abode,  a  foreigner. 
After  a  brief  tribute  to  those  who  had  spoken  before 
him,  he  apologized  for  differing  from  them.  Because 
of  what  followed  afterward  I  remember  almost  his 
very  words,  so  few  were  they  and  deliberate. 

"  It  is  very  beautiful  and  interesting,"  he  re 
marked,  "  the  much  which  has  been  said  in  regard  to 
Truth.  For  one,  owing  to  defect,  possibly,  of  educa 
tion,  association,  temperament,  I  have  no  idea  even  of 
what  is  meant  by  Truth  in  the  abstract.  To  me  the 
truth  means  nothing  whatever  but  simply  that  which 


376  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

is  so.  That  so  much  oxygen  and  so  much  nitrogen 
go  to  make  up  the  atmosphere  is  one  truth ;  another 
truth  is,  that  so  much  sulphur,  so  much  charcoal,  so 
much  saltpetre  will  make  gunpowder.  That  the  rings 
of  Saturn  are  so  many,  that  the  sun  is  so  many  miles 
away,  having  just  such  dimensions  and  force  of  heat, 
light,  attraction,  is  another  truth.  It  is  a  truth  in 
mathematics  that  twice  two  are  four.  The  same  of 
everything.  On  investigation,  the  intellect  seems  to 
possess  such  and  such  faculties,  and  these  only,  — 
that  is  truth.  Men  have  found  that,  in  the  long  run, 
virtue  is  best  and  vice  is  worst  for  a  man.  That 
is  truth  in  moral  science.  Why  say  anything  fur 
ther  ?  Truth  is  Fact.  That  which  is  so  is  Truth! 
Beyond  that,  I,  for  one,  have  no  belief  in  any  phan 
tom,  ghost,  spectral  something  named  Truth." 

As  Miss  Persis  had  spoken  with  small  reference 
except  to  her  lover  seated  behind  her,  so  Ross  said 
what  he  did  with  her  only  in  mind.  As  to  the  rest 
of  us,  his  feeling,  I  fear,  was  scorn,  where  it  was  not 
disappointment  amounting  to  disgust,  despair.  In 
his  perishing  hunger  we  had  given  him  for  food  the 
most  vaporous,  if  beautiful,  of  abstractions.  From 
beginning  to  end  no  one  there  was  more  courteous 
than  he ;  but  there  was  a  bitterness,  too,  an  almost 
fierce  impatience,  under  and  through  it  all,  which 
conveyed  what  he  meant  beyond  the  words  he  em 
ployed.  He  was  a  gentleman,  but  of  the  type  of 
Ishmael  and  Esau,  that  was  evident.  Nowhere  in 
the  world  do  men  and  women  detect  and  appreciate 
character  more  surely  and  swiftly  than  those  among 


A  SOCRATIC  SOIR£E.  377 

whom  my  friend  then  was,  and  I  was  not  ashamed 
to  introduce  him  to  more  than  one  of  them  as  we 
broke  up  our  assembly  and  parted. 

I  did  not  see,  in  the  throng,  what  took  place  be 
tween  Persis  and  himself.  As  both  Rachel  and  her 
self  had  escorts,  there  was  nothing  for  Ross  and 
myself  but  to  walk  home  together. 

"  You  tell  me,"  he  said,  as  I  took  his  arm,  "  that 
ministers  of  every  denomination  and  shade  of  opinion 
were  there,  to  say  nothing  of  the  others  present,  as 
able,  decided,  diversified,  and  intelligent  in  their  views 
and  beliefs.  Now  would  you  like  to  know  the  thing 
which  impressed  me  most  of  all  ?  What  were  the 
subjects  which  came  up  for  discussion  ?  According 
to  the  avowed  belief  of  many  present,  they  related 
to  exactly  the.  matters  of  fact  which  are  the  most 
tremendous  of  realities  known  to  men.  And  yet," 
asked  Ross,  "  were  they  handled  as  such  by  any  man 
there,  believer  or  unbeliever  ?  I  admire  the  cour 
tesy, —  it  is  the  condition,  I  know,  of  any  coming 
together  at  all  of  people  of  views  so  radically  oppo 
site,  —  and  yet,  and  yet ! "  He  rubbed  an  impatient 
palm  over  his  forehead.  "  It  is  because  I  am  so  up 
and  down  in  my  way,"  he  said,  "  so  used  to  dealing 
with  facts  as  facts,  but  may  I  be  damned  if  I  under 
stand  it ! " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  I  demanded,  for  he  had 
not  sworn  in  my  presence  before. 

"  Mean  ?  Look  at  me>  Guernsey !  Do  you  sup 
pose,"  he  said,  his  black  eyes  holding  mine  as  in  a 
vice,  "that  if  I  believed  as  you  say  you  do,  I  could 


378  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

discuss  my  surest,  most  essential  belief  as  one  does  a 
matter  of  dress  or  art,  a  point  in  politics  or  science, 
the  newest  poem,  the  latest  novel  ?  I  '11  tell  you 
what,  Guernsey,  as  sure  as  you  live,  man,  it  is  not 
because  you  must  be  so  polite  with  each  other,  it  is 
because  that,  really  and  truly,  not  a  man  or  even 
woman  of  you  believes  any  more  than  I  do  !  It  was 
worth  my  coming  here  to  find  that  out.  It  pays  you 
for  the  bore  of  having  me  here  for  you  to  be  told  it." 

"I  hardly  think,"  I  remarked,  "that  faith  is  perish 
ing  from  the  earth.  Since  the  year  1800  the  popu 
lation  of  this  country,  for  instance,  has  increased  nine 
times,  the  membership  of  the  churches  twenty-seven 
times." 

"  It  was  not  the  number  of  Christians  I  was  speak 
ing  of,"  Ross  said,  "  but  the  measure  of  personal  be 
lief." 

It  had  no  effect  upon  my  friend ;  why,  then,  should 
I  record  a  word  of  what  I  said  in  reply  ?  While  I 
spoke  he  was  rather  looking  at,  than  listening  to  rne. 
"  One  thing,"  I  remarked  in  the  end,  "  even  you 
cannot  deny.  When  a  cannon  goes  off  you  know 
that  the  explosion  and  the  ball  come  from  within  the 
cannon.  No  one  denies  that  light  and  heat  are  from 
the  sun.  Now  a  man  is  a  fool  who  does  not  agree 
that  the  source  of  the  largest  manifestation  of  sheer 
force  known  to  men  is  in  the  Christ.  Say  he  never 
existed,  none  the  less  out  of  the  idea  —  delusion,  if 
you  please  —  of  the  Christ  issues  the  sublimest  meas 
ure  of  energetic  force  the  world  knows  of.  Yes,  force, 
influence,  power,  —  power  to  make  men  write,  sing, 


A  SOCRATIC  SOIR£E.  379 

paint,  carve,  give  money,  do  hard  work,  endure,  fight, 
hope,  believe,  die !  Here  is  a  force  in  direct  opposi 
tion  to  the  wish  of  men,  the  habit  and  custom  of 
men,  which  is  more  effective,  statistically,  than  when 
it  began  to  operate  twenty  centuries  ago.  You  can 
no  more  ignore  it  than  you  can  a  locomotive  at  full 
speed,  a  thunder-storm,  a  —  " 

"  None  the  less,  I  don't  believe  in  it !  Guernsey," 
Eoss  said  coolly,  "  I  '11  tell  you  one  thing.  You  think 
Christ  made  deaf  people  hear,  blind  people  see,  dead 
people  live.  Very  well.  Let  me  tell  you  that  his 
greatest  miracle  is  to  make  a  man  believe.  You  are 
yourself  a  stronger  proof  than  anything  you  can  say. 
Belief  is  perishing  from  men." 

"  I  agree  with  you,"  I  said,  "  and  it  will  go  on 
perishing  until  men  see  it  is  so,  and  dash  through 
everything  to  Christ  to  be  miraculously  made  to  be 
lieve  by  the  one  who  alone  can  do  it.  Yes,  belief 
will,  at  last,  so  nearly  perish  from  the  earth  that, 
in  their  desperation  at  what  follows  on  that,  —  and 
who  knows  what  terrible  calamities  may  attend  it  ? 
—  men  will  break  their  way  through  the  official 
disciples  to  their  Master  for  this,  as  they  did  when 
he  was  visibly  on  earth." 

But,  as  I  said  before,  Eoss  did  not  listen  to  me. 
"  Each  el,"  he  now  remarked,  more  to  himself  than  to 
me,  "  is  what  she  is  in  virtue,  I  suppose,  of  being  a 
woman,  in  virtue  of  her  perfect  balance  of  body  and 
mind,  which  is  another  name  for  her  excellent  sense. 
You  are  what  you  are  because  you  have  had  so  much 
suffering.  Is  n't  that  so,  Guernsey  ? " 


380  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY, 

"  What  I  am  ?  I  do  not  understand  you."  And  I 
suppose  my  color  must  have  risen,  his  steady  eyes 
were  considering  me  so. 

"  It  is  you,  not  what  you  say,  which  has  any 
weight  with  me,"  he  said ;  and  I  cannot  repeat  what 
he  added  except  that  he  closed  with  the  remark, 
"  You  are  the  happiest  man  I  know  of,  Guernsey,  and 
it  is  because  of  your  faith,  I  suppose.  I  don't  care 
for  your  faith,  but  I  do  care  for  you,  —  as  a  sort  of 
phenomenon,"  he  added ;  but,  of  course,  in  that  he 
was  satirical.  So  far  as  Ross  preferred  me  to  others, 
it  was  because  even  he  could  not  remain  indifferent  to 
my  interest,  as  has  been  before  mentioned,  in  him. 

"  If  I  am  the  happiest  of  men,"  I  said,  "  it  is  be 
cause  I  am  so  rich  in  my  certainties.  I  can  ring  them 
down  to  you,  one  by  one,  on  this  table,"  for  by  this 
time  we  had  reached  my  room,  "as  a  man  rings 
down  upon  his  counter  his  twenty-dollar  gold  pieces  ! 
Take  one  of  them.  I  do  know  that  the  Supreme  Force 
is  seeing  to  it  that  out  of  what  now  seems  to  be  the 
worst  thing  in  my  lot  shall  come  to  me  my  greatest 
good,  that  —  "  But  Ross  was  not  listening. 

" '  It  is  charged  upon  us,'  "  he  quoted,  "  '  that  our 
only  creed  is  that  in  Judaea  eighteen  hundred  years 
ago  nothing  particular  took  place.'  When  the  liberal 
clergyman  said  that  in  his  jocular  way,  every  soul  of 
you  agreed  with  him  that  it  was  a  good  joke.  It 
bewilders  me  !  Supposing,"  Ross  said,  "that  there 
was,  is,  a  Christ,  would  Peter,  John,  even  Herod,  have 
considered  it  funny  ?  And  yet,  Rachel  excepted, 
everybody  laughed !  The  fact  is,"  he  added,  "  you 


A  SOCK  A  TIC  SOIREE.  381 

believers  have  really  no  more  faith  than  the  unbeliev 
ers.  Your  belief,  Guernsey,  is  less  than  you  imagine. 
Curse  your  shams  ! " 

There  was  the  sudden  anger  in  it  of  a  man  bitterly 
disappointed.  It  does  not  matter  what  I  replied.  He 
seemed  to  dismiss  the  subject  with  contempt.  I  had 
much  to  say,  but  Ross  was  not  listening  to  me;  it 
was  of  another  Messiah  he  was  thinking. 


382  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTEE    XXX. 

ROSS  AND  PERSIS. 

OSS  may  have  been  unfortunate  in  timing,  as 
he  did,  his  call  upon  Persis  next  day.  Men 
.have  moods  enough,  but  mood  means  more  where 
a  woman  is  in  question.  Marc  Antony  spoke  from 
personal  experience  when  he  alluded  to  the  infinite 
variety  of  Cleopatra.  What  woman  more  lovely  than 
Melusina,  yet  how  could  she  help  becoming  a  mer 
maid  during  Saturday  night  ?  Considering  the  tem 
perament  of  the  barefooted  Ocklawahaw  girl,  and  to 
what  a  pitch  she  had  kept  that  intensity  strained 
during  the  years  since,  the  wonder  was  that  the  in 
tellectual  over-stress  of  school  and  parlor  did  not,  as 
with  women  of  her  kind  always,  react  into  some 
thing  worse  than  dishabille  and  deep  sleep. 

But  Ross  had  already  remained  a  longer  time  than  he 
intended  when  he  came.  His  business  elsewhere  was 
pressing  upon  him.  Moreover,  love,  like  every  lesser 
hunger  and  thirst,  comes  at  last  to  a  point  where  it 
must  have  its  supply  or  perish ;  and  when  a  man  like 
Ross  has  waited  so  long,  the  moment  arrives  when  he 
cannot  be  put  off,  and  I  tell  his  story  at  all  because  to 
me  he  was  Marc  Antony  come  again,  —  in  love  as  in 
everything  else. 


XOSS  AND  PERSIS.  383 

Once,  twice,  he  called  to  see  Persis.  Rachel  knew 
the  strong,  stern  man  as  if  he  were  a  child,  —  knew 
and  pitied  him  with  all  her  heart,  so  haggard  he  had 
come  to  be,  so  silent  under  his  anxiety.  When  she 
excused  Persis  to  him,  she  encouraged  him  so  far  as 
she  could.  "  Persis  was  not  very  sick,  she  was  over 
taxed  ;  she  would  soon  be  well."  When  the  lover 
came  the  third  time  even  Rachel's  prudence  gave  way, 
and  she  consented  that  Persis,  too  weak  to  do  so, 
should  go  down  to  see  him. 

Like  every  other  lover,  Ross  had  arranged  what  he 
would  say  and  do.  It  would  be  very  simple.  He 
would  tell  her  that  he  had  always  loved  her,  that  was 
all.  Persis  knew  his  direct  manner  of  doing  things, 
and  she  \vas  ready  to  yield  to  herself  at  last  as  to 
him.  She  had  come  East  with  great  expectations. 
What  was  there  at  last  to  compare  with  Ross  ?  Ra 
chel  was  alarmed  for  her  when  she  saw  her  pallid 
cheeks  becoming  crimson,  as  she  felt  her  thin  hand 
tremble ;  but  Ross  was  astonished  to  see  how  strong 
she  seemed  to  be  when  she  came  into  the  parlor. 

"  Why,  Persis,"  he  said,  "  they  told  me  you  were 
sick.  You  never  looked  as  well  in  your  life." 

"  Do  I  ? "  she  laughed,  and  was  glad  of  it,  he  seemed 
so  pleased ;  she  was  proud  of  it,  he  so  evidently  ad 
mired  her.  It  deranged  his  plans,  she  was  so  erect, 
so  beautiful,  her  eyes  were  so  bright.  "  I  am  a  rude 
fellow  from  the  West,"  he  said  to  himself.  "  There  is 
not  a  woman  to  compare  with  her  in  the  world.  I 
must  be  careful."  And  so  they  fell  to  talking  of  indif 
ferent  things  for  a  while.  The  trouble  with  both  of 


384  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

them  was  that  they  were  so  certain  of  each  other  they 
could  afford  to  wait ;  there  was  pleasure  in  dallying 
with  rapture.  They  spoke  of  Dr.  Trent  and  his  wife. 
Then  Ross  told  her  of  his  plans  for  the  future ;  he  was 
going  into  politics ;  he  had  schemes  about  schools  to 
be  established  over  his  State ;  he  was  organizing  a 
society  to  encourage  emigration  thither. 

"  I  see  you  have  learned  much  since  you  came  here," 
she  said ;  and  she  went  off  into  praise  of  the  city,  its 
people,  its  institutions.  Here  was,  to  Ross,  the  frui 
tion  at  last  of  the  hopes  of  a  lifetime.  She  was  think 
ing  only  of  Ross ;  it  was  Ross  she  was  rejoicing  in, 
and  the  city,  for  which  she  cared  not  a  straw  in  com 
parison,  was  but  the  nearest  topic ;  her  heart  over 
flowed,  she  must  praise  something.  As  they  talked 
she  became  more  exhilarated  under  the  admiration, 
adoration  almost,  of  his  eyes  so  dark  and  steady.  She 
knew  that  she  was  saying  brilliant  things,  and  she 
felt  so  strong,  too,  and  well.  "  How  can  you  endure 
to  go  back,"  she  said  at  last,  in  sheer  wantonness ; 
"it  is  so  dull  there,  so  slow  and  behind  the  times !  I 
know  that  you  like  everything  here  best.  You  do, 
don't  you  ? " 

Her  lover  was  burning  to  get  at  that  which  was 
nearest  the  heart  of  each,  but  he  said  something  in 
denial.  "What  did  he  care  for  anything  but  her  ?  He 
would  come  to  that  in  a  moment.  But  she  was  full 
at  the  instant  of  her  admiration  for  this  author  and 
that,  several  of  whom  she  knew  personally.  He 
loved  to  hear  her  talk,  noticing  that  she  was  so  much 
more  improved  than  he  had  thought  possible,  then 


XOSS  AND  PERSIS.  385 

forgetting   even  that  in  her  vivacity.     "  And  you  do 
like  everything  here  ?  "  she  repeated. 

If  he  could  have  been  a  little  cooler  !  The  day  when, 
as  a  boy,  he  had  crept  upon  and  brought  down  his 
first  deer  had  seen  him  more  composed  than  now ; 
but  then  Persis  had  become  more  to  him  than  life 
itself.  If  he  could  have  reflected,  he  might  have  known 
that  her  great  liking  for  these  writers  was  but  the 
irrepressible  expression  of  her  love  for  him  !  But  her 
excitement  was  contagious.  "  No ;  I  do  not  rate  them 
as  you  do,"  he  said.  "  What  author  of  them  all  com 
pares  with  those  of  other  lands  and  ages  ?  People 
hereabout  have  deft  fingers  ;  they  take  English  or 
German  bullion,  and  draw  it  out  into  fine  wire  and 
weave  it  into  all  sorts  of  fancy  work,"  and  much 
more  to  that  effect. 

Eoss  did  not  care  a  penny  about  it ;  he  only  wanted 
to  aggravate  her  to  further  speech ;  he  loved  to  see 
the  -play  of  light  in  her  wtmderful  eyes,  the  motion 
of  her  restless  hands.  His  was  the  curiosity  of  a  big 
boy  come  into  possession  of  a  new  and  wonderful 
toy ;  he  examined  it  carefully,  tried  it  this  way  and 
that,  wanted  to  see  how  it  would  work,  —  was  it  not 
his  own  ?  He  was  more  of  his  father's  son  than  he 
knew.  There  was  in  his  mariner  of  playing,  so  to 
speak,  with  her  an  appearance  of  ingrained  contempt 
for  a  woman  as  a  woman  beyond  what  he  knew. 
It  may  be  because  Persis  was  too  tensely  strung  at 
the  moment,  but  she  felt  it  so.  His  face,  the  familiar 
tones  of  his  voice,  brought  Ocklawahaw  back  again, 
and  she  remembered  vividly  what  women  were  there. 

25 


386  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

She  had  rebelled  against  it  when  she  was  a  child  ; 
these  last  years  had  been  spent  in  another  place  than 
Ocklawahaw  !  Moreover,  she  was  weak,  nervous  ;  she 
had  drawn  upon  her  health  as  a  spendthrift  does  upon 
money  which  he  considers  immeasurable.  She  had 
engaged  in  her  studies  with  such  energy,  such  velocity, 
so  to  speak,  that  she  had  not  strength  left  wherewith 
to  check  herself.  Now,  as  she  talked  with  her  lover, 
her  cheeks  grew  hotter,  her  lips  became  dry. 

There  was  no  excuse  for  Ross  !  He  had  fallen  into 
his  hereditary  trick  of  continuance,  as  after  game ;  as 
if,  drawn  aside  by  a  squirrel  when  pursuing  deer, 
he  had  persisted  in  pursuit  of  the  unworthy  object 
from  mere  habit  of  persistence.  Neither  of  them 
cared  anything  except  for  each  other.  Had  he  told 
his  love  when  he  first  came,  she  would  have  given 
herself  to  him  without  a  thought  of  anything  but 
him.  From  that  hour  their  mutual  affection  would 
have  melted  and  moulded  them  into  one  by  a  flame 
more  than  the  double  of  that  which  glowed  in  their 
hearts  while  apart.  But  Ross  had  fallen  now,  only 
for  the  moment,  he  said  to  himself,  into  another  mood. 
Could  it  be  that,  born  and  raised  as  he  was,  he  felt  a 
secret  jealousy  of  this  Persis  whom  he  so  admired 
and  loved, — jealousy,  that  is,  of  her  as  a  woman  ? 
Was  it  only  her  imagination  that  this  strong  man 
was  provoking  her  to  say  tilings,  as  he  would  have 
done  a  precocious  child  ?  "  She  ought  to  know,"  Ross 
was  saying  to  himself,  "  that,  whatever  I  think  of  her 
sex  in  general,  she  is  to  me  the  one  exception  to  all 
women  that  ever  lived." 


XOSS  AND  PERSIS.  387 

What  he  said  aloud  was :  "  It  is  natural  that 
these  people  should  seem  to  you  as  they  do.  The 
change  from  Ocklawahaw  was  very  great ;  you  were 
quite  young,  and  merely  an  impressionable  girl.  To 
a  man,  accustomed  to  a  rougher,  stronger  life,  things 
seem  different.  These  people  spend  their  days  in 
furbishing  up  and  grinding  down  the  broadswords 
of  their  stout  old  grandfathers  into  razors,  razors 
wherewith  to  split  hairs.  The  way  it  strikes  one  from 
ruder  regions  is,  that  excessive  over-culture  is  the 
law  of  your  life." 

"  What  Vandals  and  Goths  might  think  "  —  Persia 
legan;  but  Ross  had  already  listened  long  to  what 
she  had  to  say,  he  would  not  be  put  down. 

"Thank  you  for  the  suggestion.  You  know,"  he 
said,  "the  condition  of  Rome  when  the  Goths  and 
Vandals  broke  in.  The  masters  of  the  world  were 
sunk  into  a  luxurious  effeminacy,  —  womanishness, 
that  means.  The  difference  with  this  Rome  is  that  its 
womanishness  is  not  sensual,  but  intellectual.  It  re 
sembles  paralysis ;  that  is,  even  in  matters  of  thought 
and  the  deepest  thought,  the  hand  shakes,  is  uncer 
tain,  as  with  perpetual  palsy.  Your  leading  minds 
are  undecided.  Therein  lies  the  reason  they  effect  so 
little.  Nobody  can  accomplish  anything  by  indefi- 
niteness.  There  never  yet  was  a  man  who  conquered 
except  in  virtue  of  strong  personal  conviction, — 
conviction  positive,  sharp,  final.  It  is  worse  than 
nonsense,  it  is  feebleness ! " 

Colonel  Urwoldt  had  been  used  too  long  to  the 
handling:  of  soldiers.  His  accents  were  too  much 


388  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

like  words  of  command.  He  may  have  known  Persia 
up  to  the  hour  when  she  left  the  Reservation ;  he 
did  not  know  her  as  she  was  now.  He  loved  her  a 
thousand  fold  more  for  what  she  had  become  without 
at  all  understanding  what  that  was.  Moreover,  he 
had  a  deeper  aversion  than  men  in  general  have  to 
seeing  the  women  they  love  under  the  influence  of  a 
priest.  This  lover  had  no  faith  in  any  religion ;  yet, 
strange  to  say,  he  shuddered  to  see  that  Persis  had 
none,  yet  the  influence  over  her  of  such  an  unbeliever 
as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adair  was  more  offensive  to  him 
than  if  that  gentleman  were  a  Jesuit  instead.  He 
had  no  faith  himself,  but  he  unconsciously  clung  to 
his  faith  in  woman's  faith.  Ross  was  in  a  state  of 
transition,  little  as  he  knew  it,  and  what  should  have 
been  in  Persis  a  woman's  faith  was  to  him  the  sole  tie 
to  life,  as  of  a  babe  through  its  mother.  Mr.  Adair 
he  hated ;  and  it  was  the  outcry,  although  Persis  did 
not  know  it,  of  his  soul  as  of  his  heart,  when  he  said, 
"Biddy  yields  to  her  priest;  don't  yield  to  yours, 
Persis,  don't  do  it ! " 

Persis  felt  her  lips  grow  parched  as  he  said  it. 
She  was  very  weak;  and  that  much  the  more  she 
was  excited,  exasperated.  I  will  not  detail  what 
followed.  Must  manliness  become  brutal,  and  as 
by  its  very  completeness  ?  And  Persis  ?  Alas,  the 
sweetest  music  breaks  into  a  scream  if  it  soars  too 
high !  yet  it  was  merely  the  excess  of  womanliness 
in  her  which  made  her  the  more  bitter  as  she  replied 
to  her  lovar.  For  Ross  seemed  to  be  possessed  of  a 
very  devil  of  teasing ;  he  intended  no  more  than  that. 


&OSS  AND  PERSIS.  389 

She  had  become  attached  to  the  persons  and  things 
about  her,  knowing  what  they  had  done  for  her ;  but 
of  that  he  did  not  think.  He  might  have  seen  in 
her  dilated  eyes,  in  her  hot  cheeks,  how  feeble  she 
was.  Had  he  taken  her  hand  its  trembling  would 
have  taught  him.  All  that  he  saw,  as  he  talked,  was 
her  brilliant  beauty.  He  had  no  feeling  but  of  ardent 
affection,  affection  on  the  edge  of  possession  at  last, 
as  he  gave  vent  to  his  gladness  in  ridicule  of  authors, 
lectures,  literary  clubs. 

"  The  emptiest  nonsense  of  all,"  he  said  at  last,  "  is 
the  everlasting  disquisition  going  on  here  in  regard 
to  matters  which  are  hopelessly  beyond  the  reach  of 
even  the  ablest.  Persis,  it  is  the  sheer  frivolity  of 
this  which  makes  it  so  acceptable  to  your  sex." 

In  view  of  what  came  after,  let  it  be  remembered 
how  her  grandfather,  yearning  after  a  regenerated 
world,  and  despairing  of  existing  instrumentalities 
toward  it,  had  taught  Persis  that  it  might  come  by 
means  of  a  race  of  women  better  qualified  for  the 
work  than  any  going  before.  From  a  child  she  had 
studied  her  Bible  to  that  end.  Christianity  had 
slowly  wrought  the  world  up  to  its  present  estate  by 
the  unsuspected  force  of  the  meanest  things.  Yes, 
woman  was  the  undreamed-of  force  which  was  to 
revolutiouize  and  complete  the  salvation  of  the  race. 
She  had,  then,  found  many  a  scripture  for  it.  If  this 
Joan  of  Arc  had  left  all  that  behind  her  of  late,  it 
was  because  she  had  come  out  into  the  open  field 
where  flags  were  more  avowedly  unfurled  to  the  same 
result.  How  keenly  she  felt  the  contempt  implied 


390  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

even  in  jest,  for  her  sex,  and  by  Ross  of  all  men,  she 
alone  could  know.  He  had  told  her  long  ago  that 
the  intense  determination  of  the  North  at  the  outset 
of  its  war  upon  the  South  was  itself  an  assurance  of 
its  success,  and  she  believed  that  the  very  earnestness 
of  feeling  by  woman  for  woman,  these  days,  was  itself 
a  prophecy  of  what,  purely  as  women,  they  were  to 
be  and  do. 

"  You  think  that  at  last  we  are  only  squaws, "  she 
said,  and  he  began  to  see  in  her  eyes  fastened  upon  his 
something  he  did  not  understand.  Was  it  the  dawn 
of  a  morning  he  had  not  anticipated  in  her,  in  any 
woman  ?  Was  it  the  first  flash  of  a  coming  storm  ? 
He  shrank  before  it.  If  Persis  could  have  known  ! 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  chief  hunger  of  the 
man  since  he  could  remember  had  been  for  a  home  of 
his  own.  It  was  in  his  nature  from  the  first ;  he  had 
been  deprived  of  it  by  his  father's  brutality  and  then 
by  the  marriage  of  his  mother.  To  this  he  had  looked 
forward  through  his  years  in  camp  and  the  uncertain 
ties  following  upon  the  close  of  the  war.  He  hun 
gered  for  peace,  for  rest,  for  time  to  think,  for  a  period 
during  which  he  could  come  to  some  final  decision  in 
regard  to  matters  which,  often  as  he  denied  it,  made 
worse  strife  within  him  than  Federals  and  Confeder 
ates  had  ever  made  without.  Even  as  he  spoke  his 
one  desire  on  earth  was  for  a  home,  —  a  home,  and 
for  Persis  as  the  wife  who  alone  could  make  that 
home. 

Perhaps  Persis  could  have  endured  any  measure  of 
joy.  Eachel  had  allowed  her  to  come  into  the  room, 


XOSS  AND  PERSIS.  391 

hoping  in  that  as  in  the  best  medicine  in  reach,  in 
that  and  in  the  rest  of  soul  which  could  not  but  come 
to  Persis  when  her  years  of  hope  had  found  assurance 
at  last.  "Her  future  will  seem  to  her,"  Eachel 
thought,  "  a  heaven  of  repose.  After  that,  after  she 
and  Ross  have  come  to  an  understanding,  the  long 
strain  will  be  over.  What  does  she  care  for  except 
for  him  ? "  Persis  had  gone  down  to  see  her  lover 
with  the  craving,  under  show  of  strength,  of  weakness, 
utter  weakness.  She  loved  him  with  her  whole 
heart,  she  knew  that  he  had  never  loved  any  but  her. 
He  was  so  strong ;  none  but  she  herself  understood 
how  strong  he  was,  how  tender  he  would  be,  how 
true !  She  already  saw,  and  before  she  entered  the 
room,  his  eyes  fastened  upon  hers  with  the  steadiness 
of  a  love^  which  would  never  change.  Already  she 
felt  his  arms  about  her.  "  I  am  so  tired,"  she  had  al 
most  sobbed.  "  I  can  trust  to  nothing  else  in  earth  or 
heaven.  Everything  else  is  emptiness.  He  will  take 
me  to  his  heart.  It  will  rest  me  so  !  rest  me,  rest  me  • " 

And  then  befell  what  has  been  but  imperfectly  de 
scribed. 

"You  think  we  are  only  squaws  !" 

She  lifted  herself  by  grasping  the  marble  of  the 
mantel,  and,  holding  herself  apart,  she  stood  before 
him  there,  the  one  object,  stern,  pale,  which  was  to 
come  between  him  and  everything  else  for  many  a 
day  to  follow.  Even  then  he  could  not  help  seeing 
how  her  dress  fell  away  from  her  as  she  stood,  how 
much  she  had  lost  of  flesh.  Her  cheeks  were  hollow, 
even  if  they  were  brilliant,  and  her  eyes  were  too 


392  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

bright.  She  could  not  remember  afterward  what  she 
said  to  him.  It  was  an  irrepressible  torrent  upon 
which  she  was  but  as  a  floating  leaf.  Nor  could  he 
remember  what  she  said.  He  saw  in  a  stupid  way 
the  mischief  he  had  done.  Not  regarding  what  she 
was  saying,  he  studied  how  to  remedy  it.  Once  or 
twice  he  was  on  the  point  of  taking  her  in  his  arms,  of 
soothing  her  upon  his  bosom,  of  begging  all  manner  of 
pardon,  of  stifling  her  angry  words  with  kisses.  He 
dared  not  attempt  it.  He  was  afraid  to  risk  it.  He 
loved  her  the  more  for  the  terrible  things  she  was  say 
ing,  even  while  they  angered  him  and  drove  him  off. 
Then  she  stopped  and  began  to  laugh;  she  could  not 
help  it !  As  he  looked  at  her  in  amazement  she  broke 
into  a  violent  weeping  like  a  little  child,  and,  before 
he  could  stop  her,  she  had  gone  out  of  the  room. 

Left  alone,  he  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  apartment, 
staring  at  nothing,  like  a  fool.  Then  he  began,  as  he 
stood,  to  curse  the  city  to  which  she  had  come ;  but 
when  he  entered  upon  the  profanity  due  himself  for 
his  brutality  the  subject  was  too  vast.  He  could  do 
that  more  justice  afterward.  Then  he  rang  the  bell 
and  sent  up  a  line  by  the  servant.  He  had  hardly 
supposed  the  note  could  be  delivered  when  the  answer 
came  back. 

"Per sis  is  seriously  ill.  Neither  she  nor  I  can  see 
you  now,  nor  for  a  very  long  time.  You  need  not 
wait.  EACHEL." 

Even  then  it  struck  him  that  the  writer  had  not 
written  before,  so  far  as  he  had  seen,  in  a  hand  so 


XOSS  AND  PERSIS.  393 

full  and  bold  and  clear.  But  he  held  it  in  his  grasp 
as  he  walked  down  the  street,  and  entered  again  upon 
the  task  of  cursing  himself. 

My  knocking  at  his  door  that  night  brought  no 
response,  although  the  hotel  clerk  became  irritated 
at  the  number  of  assurances  he  had  to  make  me 
that  my  friend  was  undoubtedly  in.  As  I  learned 
afterward,  he  called  again  and  again  upon  Persis  and 
Rachel ;  but  neither  of  them  would  see  him.  They 
could  not.  He  was  not  the  kind  of  man  who  resorts 
to  writing ;  nothing  less  than  a  personal  interview 
would  suffice  for  him.  All  this  time  letters  on 
pressing  affairs  of  business  had  been  pouring  in  upon 
him.  He  was  needed  at  Washington,  then  in  the 
South.  Large  amounts  of  money  depended  upon  his 
immediate  return  thither.  Indignant  telegrams  began 
to  follow  each  other  in  rapid  succession.  So  sure  was 
I  that  he  avoided  seeing  me  that  I  was  as  careful  at 
last  not  to  be  seen  of  him,  and  in  a  day  or  two  he 
was  gone.  The  only  memento  he  left  was  his  card, 
with  the  words  scrawled  in  pencil  upon  the  back  :  — 

"  Called  off  by  business." 


394  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

OCKLAWAHAW   AGAIN. 


vv 

his  plantation,  it  was  to  enter  upon  his  affairs 
with  a  species  of  cold  energy  such  as  he  had  never 
before  shown.  If  such  a  metaphor  is  allowable,  his 
arrival  was  as  sudden  as  that  of  an  aerolite,  and  he 
struck,  so  to  speak,  with  such  force  as  to  bury  him 
self  in  the  soil.  For  a  time  he  saw  no  one  but  his 
overseer  and  the  freedmen,  and,  rising  with  the  dawn, 
he  gave  himself,  and  exclusively,  to  the  making  of 
corn  and  cotton.  Apparently,  but  not  for  more  than 
a  few  weeks.  When  the  change  of  season  enforced  a 
relaxation  in  his  planting  interests,  he  turned  from  it 
to  other  things  with  such  vigor  as  to  dismay  his  rivals, 
—  for  this  one  law  seemed  laid  upon  him,  he  must 
work  without  cessation;  why  it  was  so  he  did  not 
define  to  himself,  but  he  dared  not  stop.  The  paper  he 
edited  had  sunk  during  his  absence  into  that  most 
mole-like  of  things,  a  "  local  paper,"  and  he  took  it  in 
hand  and  lifted  it  out  of  its  narrow  circle,  breathing 
such  breadth  into  it  as  alarmed  its  patrons  for  his 
"  soundness  "  on  State  affairs.  His  success  at  Wash 
ington  in  things  legal  brought  him  new  clients,  and 
he  took  every  case  that  came  with  the  avidity  of  a 


OCKLA  WAHA  W  A  GAIN.  395 

man  who  had  his  bread  and  his  reputation  yet  to 
make. 

With  it  all  he  went  into  politics  as  a  candidate  for 
the  Staje  Senate.  Everybody  knew  him  as  one  who 
had  fought  with  desperation  during  the  war,  and  the 
comment  ran  the  round  of  friends  and  foes,  "  The 
Colonel  always  was  as  ambitious  as  Lucifer.  He  has 
been  in  Washington  and  knows  the  ropes.  When  he 
gets  in  the  Legislature,  won't  he  make  Rome  howl ! " 
For  weeks  he  toiled,  in  his  paper  and  upon  his  round 
of  speech-making  at  every  cross-roads.  There  was  a 
fierceness  in  what  he  wrote  and  said  which  slow-going 
people  could  not  understand.  "  He  has  fought  so  long," 
they  said,  "  that  he  cannot  stop  fighting.  You  can't 
get  the  hang  of  what  he  is  after.  He  is  harder  on  us 
than  he  was  on  the  Federals.  The  hotter  he  gets  the 
harder  it  is  to  make  out  what  the  Colonel  is  after. 
But  he  is  all  right,  you  bet !  They  say  he  is  to  marry 
the  daughter  of  the  old  Governor,  who  is  at  school  up 
North  somewhere.  Smart  move  ! " 

How  could  others  comprehend  him,  seeing  that  he 
did  not  stop  long  enough  to  comprehend  himself !  For 
this  friend  of  mine  did  not  have  an  atom  of  sentiment ; 
you  are  imagining  a  different  Ross  Urwoldt  from  the 
man  of  whom  I  am  speaking,  if  you  think  he  had.  He 
stripped  himself  of  his  last  dollar  during  the  war  that 
Rachel  and  Persis  might  not,  so  far  as  he  could  help  it, 
be  inconvenienced,  and  no  man  ever  loved  woman  more 
than  he  did  Persis  ;  but  the  passion  Persis  had  for  him 
was  because  he  by  no  means  did  his  wooing  upon  his 
knees.  He  sought  or  did  not  seek  her,  as  opportu- 


396  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

nity  served.  He  had  taken  his  time  about  it.  In  mid- 
torrent  of  his  greatest  ardor  he  had  held  himself  in 
check,  and  her.  But,  and  so  much  the  more,  would 

he  make  —  and  none  knew  it  as  well  as  Persis  — 

• 

a  husband  who,  till  he  died,  would  be  even  truer  to 
her,  as  he  came  to  know  her,  than  he  was  to  himself. 

No  man,  meanwhile,  so  sick  of  strife  as  he.  During 
his  political  canvass  he  spent  night  after  night  under 
the  hospitable  roofs  of  planters,  the  whole  household 
coming  about  him  after  supper  to  hear  what  the  can 
didate  had  to  say.  While  husband,  wife,  and  chil 
dren  listened  to  his  talk  about  Washington  City,  about 
the  schools  the  South  must  have,  how  best  to  deal 
with  the  negroes,  and  the  like,  the  wiry,  stern-featured 
man  was  envying  the  dog,  even  the  cat  sleeping  upon 
the  hearth,  —  these  had  at  least  a  home.  A  home  with 
Persis !  in  the  universe  there  was  nothing  he  cared 
for  except  that ! 

He  was  elected  to  the  State  Senate,  but  he  was  not 
popular  there  even  while  he  was  acknowledged  to  be 
the  ablest  man  in  the  Legislature.  His  was  a  nature 
which  could  not  sour ;  but  how  could  he  be  patient 
while  the  war  was  fought  over  again  in  his  hearing, 
day  after  day,  with  impassioned  but  futile  oratory  ? 
It  was  in  vain  that  he  introduced  and  urged  what  he 
regarded  as  measures  of  the  utmost  importance ;  in 
almost  every  instance  they  were  voted  down,  and  he 
found  himself  upon  his  plantation  again  at  the  end, 
a  very  tired  and  badly  beaten  man.  While  this  was 
going  on,  his  practice  as  a  lawyer  ran  down ;  his 
paper  lost  its  circulation  and  stopped.  The  day  of 


OCKLA  WAHAW  A  GA  IN.  397 

his  return  to  his  home  he  learned  that  his  overseer 
had  been  swindling  him  and  had  fled.  State  enter 
prises  in  which  he  had  invested  money  failed ;  the 
titles  to  much  of  his  land  in  the  Reservation  had 
fallen  into  dispute,  owing  to  Spanish  grants  which 
had  been  found  or  forged.  Even  the  husband  of 
his  mother,  indolent  Amasa  Clarke,  became  in  some 
way  a  contestant,  in  behalf  of  his  wife,  for  large 
possessions  which  Ross's  father  did  bequeath,  or 
should  have  bequeathed  her,  and  long  letters  began 
to  come  to  him,  first  from  Mr.  Clarke  and  then  from 
the  lawyers. 

Except  for  the  sickness  of  his  early  childhood,  he 
did  not  know  what  illness  meant ;  but  now  he  lay 
prostrate  in  body  as  in  mind.  The  indomitable  will 
remained,  but  mind  and  body  both  were  to  the  will 
as  broken  arms.  If  Persis  had  been  his  wife  he  would 
have  arisen  from  his  troubles,  and  have  been,  by  vir 
tue  of  having  her  to  fight  for,  a  stronger  man  than 
before.  As  it  was,  he  was  as  much  alone  in  the 
world  as  if  wrecked  on  a  rock  in  mid-ocean,  There 
was  something  worse  still.  Along  the  Atlantic  sea 
shore  there  are  trees  which  strive  to  lift  aloft  vigor 
ous  branches.  But  they  draw  their  existence  from 
a  soil  of  only  a  few  inches  in  depth ;  beneath  that 
is  a  bed  of  clay,  white  and  barren  as  marble,  into 
which  the  roots  strive  to  thrust  themselves  in  vain. 
Having  no  grip,  as  upon  the  globe  itself,  how  can  the 
tree  resist  the  storm  ?  And  that  was  the  curse  of 
Ross  Urwoldt,  that  he  could  not  lay  hold  upon  the 
world  with  the  grasp  of  any  living  interest. 


398  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

For  weeks  he  lay  as  in  a  stupor.  Beyond  a  neigh 
bor  or  two,  almost  the  only  person  he  saw  was  the 
freedman  whom  he  had  made  overseer ;  and  he  came  in 
after  night  with  the  same  old  story  that  not  a  freed- 
woman  could  be  got  into  the  fields,  and  that  the  men 
were  little  better ;  "  de  hebbiest  crop  of  cottin  you 
ebber  saw  a  perishin'  for  de  pickin' ! "  Who  can  say 
what  passed  through  the  mind  of  this  man  as  he 
lay  ?  Everything  had  failed  him.  Fersis  ?  When 
he  was  upon  his  feet  and  strong,  he  had  been  con 
fident  of  what  she  would  have  said  if  he  had  asked 
her  to  marry  him.  In  his  weakness  he  was  not  so 
sure.  She  knew  everything,  was  very  beautiful ;  but 
now  that  he  was  sick  himself,  he  doubted  whether, 
with  all  her  education,  she  was  at  last  anything  more 
than  a  nervous,  capricious,  hysterical  woman.  His 
mother  had  been  highly  educated  in  her  day,  and 
why  should  not  Persis,  too,  slide  downward  again 
into  the  same  limp  womanishness  ?  He  remembered, 
as  he  lay,  what  Dr.  Trent  had  said  of  the  sex ;  their 
weaknesses,  perversities.  Dr.  Trent  ?  Yes,  and  he 
had  said,  too,  that  life  does  not  have  the  value,  by 
any  means,  which  men  attach  to  it. 

"  Let  me  look  at  it  as  one  does  at  the  raising  of 
cotton,  —  what  does  it  pay  me  to  live  ? "  Weak  from 
fever,  his  whole  life  passed  languidly  but  distinctly 
before  him.  Ocklawahaw —  and  here  was  his  black- 
eyed  mother,  loving  him  so ;  no,  it  was  Mrs.  Amasa 
Clarke,  Mrs.  Pooga-Dooga,  dirty,  stupid,  ignorant; 
the  other  woman  was  his  childish  delusion.  The 
Big  Meetings  —  what  good  had  they  done  ?  Parson 


OCKLAWAHAW  AGAIN:  399 

Williams  —  so  poor  all  his  life,  and  dust  for  so  long 
now !  Then  his  bloated,  red-faced  father  stood  over 
him  as  he  lay.  Ross  could  smell  the  whiskey-breath 
of  flesh  consuming  in  alcohol,  as  he  did  that  day  he 
rode  with  him  after  the  thief.  Yes,  and  there  he  lay 
dead  among  the  gravel.  What  good  did  his  land 
operations  and  browbeatings  of  people  do  him  ? 

"  And  there  is  Governor  Beauchamp,  orator,  buf 
foon,  Congressman,  lying  drunk  under  the  sycamore  ! 
Governor  again,  with  a  yell  and  a  whoop,  dragged  out 
of  office  by  the  shoulders,  making  a  pitiful  stand  for 
the  Union,  dead,  and  this  time  for  good  and  forever ! 
And  here  comes  the  war!  what  ardor,  and  beating 
of  drums  !  what  speech-making,  and  glorious  proph 
ecies  !  how  the  boys  were  hurrahing !  Then  the 
fighting !  Victory.  Defeat.  Victory  again.  De 
feat  once  more.  The  fields  covered  thick  with  the 
dead  !  And  they  were  so  brave,  too !  Prison,  hos 
pital,  camp,  nearly  four  years  of  it !  What  was  it  for, 
anyhow  ? 

"  I  went  to  the  city  to  see  Persis.  And  if  they  had 
anything  to  tell  I  wanted  to  know  it.  What  did 
I  hear  ?  Guesses,  clatter,  contradiction,  Persis 
lived  there,  she  knew  all  they  had  to  say ;  what  did 
she  believe  ?  Nothing.  Persis  ?  Poor  thing,  what 
does  your  fine  education  make  of  you  ?  "  A  fragile 
woman  stood  before  the  sick  man,  talking,  arguing, 
getting  excited  like  a  peevish  child,  her  hands  tremu 
lous,  her  face  white  and  drawn.  Her  eyes  glitter 
ing,  she  talks,  she  laughs,  she  storms,  she  cries,  she 
can't  be  silent,  she  can't  be  still.  "  She  can't  wait  to 


400  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

see  when  a  man  is  only  teasing.  Know  ?  She  does  n't 
know  me,,  and  after  all  these  many  years !  Know  ? 
She  knows  so  much  that  she  has  lost  the  power  of 
knowing  the  simplest  thing.  Know  ?  Yes,  but  she 
does  not  know  how  to  love  ! " 

When  the  end  came,  I,  Guernsey,  was  selfish  enough 
to  be  almost  hurt  at  the  little  influence  I  had  exerted 
upon  him.  I  had  wanted  to  do  him  good.  I  had 
tried  not  to  say  too  much  to  him.  All  that  he  said 
in  his  last  letter  before  his  sickness  was,  "  I  like  you, 
Guernsey,  more  than  any  man  I  know.  If  I  could  be 
as  certain  as  you,  I  would  be  a  happier  man  than  even 
you  can  ever  get  to  be.  But  I  do  not  know.  What  is 
more,  I  cannot  know !  You  would  not  be  me,  I  can 
not  be  you." 

The  one  person  in  the  world  who  could  influence 
Ross  Urwoldt  was  Persis  Paige ;  but  Persis  ?  She 
had  learned  a  vast  deal,  —  had  learned,  if  you  please, 
everything  else.  But  in  learning  it  she  had  broken 
herself  down  from  doing  the  one  thing  she  was  created 
to  do. 

It  was  because  he  became  as  weak  as  a  child  that, 
like  a  child,  he  was  seized,  as  he  lay,  with  a  desire  to 
get  back  to  Ocklawahaw,  —  not  back  to  his  mother, 
not  back  to  the  mere  woods  and  prairies  of  his  child 
hood,  but  to  his  childhood  itself.  Leaving  his  affairs  to 
take  what  course  down-hill  they  pleased,  he  got  out  of 
bed,  and  journeyed  back,  as  he  could  bear  it,  to  the 
Reservation. 

The  keeper  of  the  old  log  tavern  in  Ocklawahaw 
did  not  at  first  recognize  him  when  he  dismounted  at 


OCKLA  WAHA  W  A  GAIN.  401 

his  door.     "  Had  chills  an'  fever,  hain't  you  ? "  Mr. 
Golson  demanded. 

Emigration  had  brought  in  men  and  money,  but 
these,  too,  had  so  yielded  to  the  inertia  of  things  as 
to  make  matters  worse  in  the  town.  Everywhere 
appeared  dilapidation  and  decay.  The  keeper  of 
the  tavern,  the  men  loafing  about  the  store,  the  old 
Indians  and  half-breeds  prowling  through  the  neg 
lected  streets,  the  half-naked  children  rolling  in  the 
dust,  the  small  farmers  driving  in  with  unpainted 
wagons  and  rawbone  horses»to  sell  their  produce,  — 
all  were  in  keeping  with  each  other.  "What  Koss  had 
grown  accustomed  to  in  the  East,  and  even  in  his 
own  State,  made  Ocklawahaw  seem  doubly  down  by 
contrast. 

All  the  way,  as  he  walked  through  its  well-known 
streets  that  day,  he  tried  to  make  things  look  as  they 
used  to  do  when  he  was  a  boy.  Hardest  to  do  of  all, 
he  tried  to  bring  to  mind  his  mother  as  she  used  to 
be.  Not  an  ounce  of  paint  had  been  applied  to  the 
house  in  which  she  lived  since  he  had  left  it ;  that 
and  the  broken  pickets  were  the  things  most  notice 
able  as  he  drew  near.  But  who  could  that  fat  old 
woman  be  upon  the  front  porch,  rocking  herself  in  a 
hide-bottomed  chair,  her  hair  about  her  shoulders,  her 
dress  an  old  calico,  a  baby  in  her  arms,  a  pipe  in  her 
mouth  ?  It  was  impossible  for  Eoss  to  believe  that 
she  could  be  his  mother.  She  had  fallen  below  what 
he  had  feared  when  he  saw  her  last ;  but  now  ? 
Weak  and  tired  out,  he  sank  into  a  chair  and  looked 
at  her  with  eyes  sad  and  steady.  Yes,  although  she 

26 


402  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

was  the  master  so  far  as  her  husband  was  concerned, 
his  shiftless  indolence  had  degraded  by  infecting  her 
beyond  all  that  Gerald  Urwoldt  had  done.  It  is  sad 
for  a  man  or  a  woman  to  possess  health  and  lose  it, 
to  possess  a  million  in  money  and  lose  it,  a  throne 
and  lose  it.  Men  and  women  have  had  character  and 
pre-eminent  reputation  and  have  lost  it.  "  This 
mother  of  mine,"  he  thought,  as  he  looked  at  her, "  has 
lost  her  education  as  completely  as  I  have  lost  my  faith 
in  everything.  The  worst  of  it  is  that  she  does  not 
know  it."  The  squaw-like  cringe  of  manner  at  first 
sight  of  her  son,  that  was  there  still.  Almost  with 
her  first  words  she  began  to  ask  him  about  her  brand 
of  cattle.  The  baby  in  her  arms  began  to  cry ;  other 
of  her  children,  fat  and  dirty,  came  in  and  clustered 
about  him  with  their  beady  black  eyes.  Amasa 
Clarke  might  return  at^any  moment.  Eoss  made  his 
stay  as  short  as  possible. 

"  Did  you  know,"  she  called  after  him,  "  that  they 
have  got  back  again  ? "  But  he  did  not  hear,  or  hear 
ing  did  not  heed  her. 

Before  breakfast  next  morning  he  got  up,  went 
over  the  street  to  the  old  store,  managed  to  find  his 
way  up  into  the  loft.  As  when  he  left  it,  the  low 
walls  were  covered  with  the  paintings  of  his  father. 
Ross  forced  open  a  little  window  and  looked  at  them. 
They  were  coated  with  dust,  the  rats  had  gnawed 
them  here  and  there,  the  rain  had  got  at  and  washed 
out  much  of  the  color.  The  largest  of  the  pictures 
was  at  the  gable  end  of  the  loft,  and  reached  from 
the  floor  to  the  slanting  roof.  It  represented  a  hunter 


OCKLA WAHAW  A GA IN.  403 

in  the  midst  of  a  herd  of  buffalo.  Notwithstanding 
the  dust,  the  damp,  the  general  decay,  Eoss  could  not 
but  observe  how  true  to  nature,  although  but  in  spots 
here  and  there,  was  the  transparency  of  the  sky,  the 
rolling  of  the  prairie  slopes.  Even  then  he  saw  that 
the  tangle  yet  elasticity  of  the  grass  was  that  which 
he  had  so  often  observed.  And  the  buffalo  too,  the 
confusion  of  the  stupid  yet  infuriated  brutes,  with 
their  small  eyes  gleaming  through  their  matted  hair, 
their  distended  nostrils,  their  gaunt  flanks,  —  Ross 
had  himself  often  been  in  the  midst  of  such.  "  Never 
have  I,"  he  thought,  "  been  other  than  in  the  surging 
brutality  of  some  such  beasts  since  I  was  born ! " 

But  it  was  the  hunter  upon  the  frightened  horse 
amid  their  throng  which  fastened  his  eyes.  Eoss 
recognized  in  the  man  in  his  buckskin  suit  and 
broad-brimmed  hat,  his  rifle  in  poise,  cool,  athletic, 
exultant,  what  his  father  must  have  been  before  he 
himself  had  any  existence,  recognized  himself !  The 
horse  the  hunter  rode  was  a  spectral  smear,  but  the 
head  of  the  rider  projected  from  the  discolored  can 
vas,  its  eyes  glittering  like  the  last  lingering  sparks 
in  a  heap  of  ashes. 

"  You  had  your  day  ! "  It  was  the  sole  tribute  the 
son  could  offer  as,  turning  away,  he  rummaged  under 
the  joist  beneath  the  roof  and  drew  out  of  the  dirt  a 
short  gun.  He  almost  smiled  as  he  remembered  the 
day  he  had  hidden  it  there  so  long  ago.  Lying  beside 
it  in  the  dark,  was  the  old  shot-pouch  and  powder-horn 
which  Eoss  had  forgotten.  He  examined  them  ea 
gerly.  Yes,  it  was  his  mother  who  made  the  pouch  out 


404  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

of  the  skin  of  his  first  deer;  every  stitch  was  familiar 
to  him.  And  the  powder-horn  ?  There  were  his 
initials,  "  R.  U."  He  could  not  have  been  more  than 
eight  years  old  when  he  scratched  them  upon  it.  He 
had  fitted  the  bottom  in  and  the  stopper ;  the  charger 
he  had  made  with  his  own  hands  out  of  a  boar's  tusk. 
He  was  too  weak  to  be  ashamed  of  his  emotion  as  he 
handled  them  now.  As  he  took  the  weapon  in  his 
grasp  and  looked  it  carefully  over,  the  first  thrill  of 
pleasure  he  had  known  for  many  a  day  passed  through 
him.  It  was  a  double-barrelled  shot-gun,  yager  pat 
tern,  the  first  fire-arm  he  had  owned.  It  was  rusty 
with  years  of  hiding  where  he  had  put  it  under  the 
drip  of  the  eaves,  but  he  took  it  over  to  the  tavern, 
rubbed  it  up  and  cleaned  it  with  an  almost  personal 
affection,  remembering  that  day  in  the  snow  when  he 
had  brought  down  with  it  his  first  squirrel.  Not  a 
dog  or  horse  he  once  owned  remained  to  him.  "  This 
is  the  last  friend  left  to  me,"  he  said,  "  and  it  may 
prove  to  be  the  best  to  me  of  all." 

An  hour  after,  Ross  was  seated  on  the  stone  be 
neath  the  sycamore  outside  the  town.  He  had  slept 
like  a  babe,  so  tired  out  was  he,  the  night  before ; 
but  there  was  that  in  the  familiar  scenes  around  him 
now  which  crowded  upon  and  dazed  him,  like  the 
darkness  and  stillness  of  another  night. 

"  Governor  Beauchamp  used  to  sit  on  this  stone," 
he  tried  to  state  it  to  himself,  "  and  talk.  How  often 
have  I  seen  him  lying  just  there  ! "  For  the  moment 
the  purple-faced  patriarch  lay  at  the  feet  of  Ross,  so 
vivid  was  the  remembrance.  "  He  was  but  a  bigger 


OCKLA  WAHA  W  A  GAIN,  405 

grain  of  dust,"  the  wearied  man  tried  to  think,  "an 
atom  of  dirt  whirled  by  the  winds  this  way  and  that, 
dropped  when  the  wind  stopped  blowing,  picked  up 
again,  hurried  by  the  gust  here  and  there.  Now  he 
is  dead,  is  dust  and  nothing  else." 

But  what  did  he  care  for  the  old  Governor  ?  And 
he  fell,  as  he  sat  upon  the  stone,  his  head  against  the 
sycamore,  into  a  dreamy  dulness,  to  awake  out  of  it 
with  a  start.  "  Persis  ?  Yes,  it  was  here  Persis  used 
to  sit,  poor  little  thing,  in  your  calico  and  trying  to 
hide  your  little  brown  toes  !  '  Penna,  pennae,  pennae,' 
was  it  ?  What  did  you  get  out  of  it  at  last  ?  Persis  ? 
Did  I  love  you  ?  Did  I  ever  love  anybody  ?  It  is 
all  too  long  ago.  Let  me  see  —  see — "  To  keep  awake 
he  forced  himself  to  get  up,  and  walked  slowly  on  to 
the  river,  and  then  up  its  ragged  bluffs  into  the  belt 
of  dense  forest  separating  the  town  from  the  prairies 
beyond. 

"  Yes,  here  you  are  again,  old  river."  He  sat  down 
on  a  rotting  log  to  look  at  the  muddy  stream,  while 
he  tried  to  think  how  he  used  to  swim  in  it,  to  paddle 
up  and  down  in  his  canoe,  to  fish,  and  shoot  alligators 
caught  sleeping  along  the  shore.  "  Halloo,  old  pecan- 
trees,  how  are  you  ?  Have  they  gathered  all  your 
nuts  yet  ?  Let 's  see."  He  had  forgotten  for  the 
moment  the  season  of  the  year;  but,  yes,  the  earth 
was  thick  with  dead  leaves,  it  was  late  in  the  autumn, 
the  ground  was  covered  too  with  the  brown  hulls, 
what  nuts  he  could  find  were  rotten.  "  Any  mustang 
grapes  left  ? "  He  went  peering  about  through  the 
tangle  of  vines.  "  There  used  to  be  so  many,"  he 


406  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

complained.  Finding  a  cluster  or  two,  he  sat  clown 
on  the  dead  leaves,  laid  his  gun  aside,  and  ate  the 
grapes  very  slowly,  picking  them  off  one  by  one. 
The  pulp  was  at  its  sweetest,  but  the  skins  were  at 
their  bitterest,  and  he  ate  these,  too,  as  when  a  boy. 
Then  he  sat,  his  hands  fallen  between  his  knees,  and 
thought,  —  tried  to  think,  for  the  woods  were  closing 
in  upon  him  as  in  a  dream. 

"  It  used  to  be  so  much  to  me,"  he  murmured  to 
himself,  "  used  to  be  everything.  Is  it  because  I  have 
got  behind  this  stage-scenery,  too  ?  I  am  so  dull,  so 
stupid."  It  was  a  cloudy  day ;  there  was  no  wind, 
and  the  trees,  except  where  the  poison  oak-vine  clam 
bered  up  their  trunks,  were  almost  leafless  and  silent. 
Now  and  then  a  lingering  leaf  detached  itself  and 
fluttered  slowly  to  the  earth,  a  squirrel  ran  from  tree 
to  tree,  the  stealthy  tread  of  opossum  or  raccoon 
was  heard,  a  chipmunk  darted  across  the  openings, 
in  the  distance  a  rotten  bough  fell  to  the  ground,  a 
blue-jay  chattered,  a  catbird  called,  an  owl  whooped  ; 
but  all  sounds  so  neutralized  each  other  that  they 
made  themselves  into  a  murmuring  silence  which 
pressed  upon  the,  brain,  a  hush  that  was  also  a  force. 

He  had  counted  upon  relief  among  the  scenes 
of  his  childhood,  and  found  only  depression.  For  a 
long  time  now  he  had  thought  and  felt  until  it  was 
impossible  to  think  or  feel  as  he  had  done.  Be 
yond  mere  earth  and  wood  and  water;  beyond  mere 
light  and  air,  and  such  animals  as  he  chanced  upon, 
there  was  to  him  —  nothing.  A  hand  gloved,  so  to 
speak,  in  these  things,  was  laid,  could  he  but  have 


OCKLA  WAHAW  A  GAIN.  407 

known  it,  tenderly  upon  his  eyes,  soothing  him 
thereby  into  that  solitude,  silence,  repose,  out  of 
which  comes  recovery.  As  he  sat  he  fell  asleep.  Re 
laxing  in  his  exhaustion  from  his  upright  position, 
he  lay  at  last  upon  the  thick  mattress  of  dead  leaves. 
Often  when  a  boy  he  had  slept  all  night  beneath 
those  very  trees,  and  now  he  had  been  pressed  back 
by  a  living  hand  out  of  his  manhood  into  his  boy 
hood,  pressed  back  of  that  into  his  infancy,  back 
of  that  into  an  unconsciousness  such  as  goes  before 
birth.  To  his  utmost  he  had  asserted  himself  and 
failed.  His  was  the  submission  which  comes  at  last 
to  every  man  at  death.  For  hours  he  lay,  his  dark 
hair  tangled  with  leaves,  his  hands  cast  out  helplessly 
on  either  side  of  him,  almost  as  utterly  done  with 
himself  as  if  he  wrere  dead!  Almost,  not  altogether! 
A  mother  need  not  fear  she  will  awake  her  child 
when  she  creeps  at  midnight  to  its  crib  and  bends 
over  it ;  not  so  when  the  child  has  grown  to  be  a 
man,  at  least  not  so  if  the  man  is  of  strong  person 
ality.  Stand  over  such  a  man  when  his  sleep  is  at 
its  soundest,  and  suddenly  you  will  see  his  eyelids 
unclose  ;  he  is  back  again,  and  in  a  moment  will  have 
you  under  his  knee  and  throttled  if  not  recognized 
as  a  friend.  So  in  the  case  of  Eoss  Urwoldt,  lying 
dead  asleep.  What  is  the  inmost  self  of  the  man  ? 
What  was  that  which  was  within  Ross  as  a  man  is 
within  his  clothing  ?  It  was  a  Ross  Urwoldt  so 
much  apart  from  his  sleeping  body  that  suddenly 
he  awoke  as  if  aware  of,  and  resenting  and  resisting 
the  presence  with  him  of  another,  even  of  that 


408  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

invisible  presence  bent  over  him  only  in  tenderest 
care. 

Angry  with  he  knew  not  what,  he  arose  to  his  feet, 
and,  picking  up  his  gun,  he  struck  through  the  woods 
and  out  into  the  prairie  beyond.  "  I  can  remember," 
he  said  to  himself,  "  when,  as  a  boy,  I  counted  over 
a  hundred  varieties  of  flowers  which  I  found  among 
the  grass  here.  They  must  long  ago  have  ceased  to 
struggle  against  the  hoofs  of  the  cattle  !  " 

When  he  reached  the  first  eminence  he  stopped, 
threw  his  hat  upon  the  ground,  and  looked  around. 
It  was  a  hill  too  high  and  too  conical  not  to  be,  as 
he  well  knew,  one  of  those  mounds  in  which  slum 
ber  a  buried  race.  He  had  been  present  at  exca 
vations  made  in  others  like  it,  and  knew  what  it 
contained,  —  rude  implements,  bits  of  pottery,  and 
bones,  heaps  of  the  ashes  of  what  were  once  multi 
tudes  of  living  men  whose  name  and  history  had 
perished  with  them.  "  But  that  much  more  dust,"  he 
thought.  "  It  was  dust  from  eternity.  In  the  whirl 
of  things  it  became  men ;  ate,  drank,  slept,  fought, 
slew,  suffered,  died,  and  so  was  dust  again.  Is 
there  among  it  a  smaller  atom  of  dust  than  myself? 
And  this  —  what  is  this  ? " 

The  clouds  were  broken,  and  the  sky  was  blue,  the 
sun  shining  brightly.  His  eye  slowly  swept  the 
entire  expanse  of  earth  and  heaven,  trying  to  recall 
the  amplitude  and  glory  of  what  it  had  been  to  him 
in  days  gone  by.  "  Is  my  brain  sodden,"  he  said, 
"  that  I  can  make  nothing  of  it  but  a  vast  prison  ? 
What  good  is  there  in  mere  size  ?  It  is,  at  last,  walls 
and  roof,  not^-  more." 


OCKLA  WAHA  W  A  GAIN.  409 

Who  can  tell  by  what  instinct  he  followed,  as  he 
walked  slowly  on,  the  road  along  which  he  had 
driven  that  day  with  his  enraged  father  ?  He  was 
very  tired  when  he  sat  down  at  last  upon  the  spot 
beside  the  creek  where  his  father  had  fallen  and  died. 
The  road  ran  abruptly  down  to  the  water  and  through 
it,  and  so  up  a  steep  incline,  and  out  again  toward 
the  farms  beyond.  It  was  the  way  most  travelled  by 
those  going  in  and  out  of  Ocklawahaw,  and  the  gum- 
trees  and  willows  grew  thick  on  either  side,  making 
a  shade  deep  and  dark  over  the  current,  gurgling  as 
it  went. 

"  You  need  not  sing  it  so  steadily,"  he  murmured, 
his  voice  sounding  far  off  to  him  as  he  said  it.  "Do 
I  not  know,  know,  know  it  ?  Yes,  — 

'  Men  may  come  and  men  may  go, 
But  I  go  on  forever,  — ' 

go  on  forever,  ever  !  "  His  head  sank  upon  his  bosom. 
It  was  late  in  the  day,  and  he  had  walked  many  miles 
forgetting  the  food  in  his  deerskin  pouch. 

There  was  a  sound  at  last  of  wheels  coming  from 
the  town,  and,  looking  up  a  moment  with  a  blank 
stare,  he  hastened  to  his  feet,  and,  barely  in  time  to 
do  it,  he  stumbled  rather  than  sprang  into  the  thick 
undergrowth  until  it  should  pass,  whoever  and  what 
ever  it  was.  He  might  have  known,  had  he  cared  to 
do  so,  who  were  in  the  vehicle  as  it  drove  by.  It  was 
impossible  that  he  should  not  have  recognized  their 
voices,  for,  halting  mid-stream  to  allow  their  horses 
to  drink,  they  conversed  together,  talking  of  the 
death,  near  by,  of  Gerald  Urwoldt,  and  all  that  had 


410  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

followed.  But  Ross  heard  the  sound  as  he  did  that 
of  the  babbling  water,  and  when  they  were  gone  on 
he  came  out  of  his  concealment  and  sat  down  again 
upon  a  stone,  his  gun  between  his  knees. 

"  Do  they  ? "  He  looked  up  in  surprise.  Who  was 
it  was  saying  so  loudly,  "  Accidents  do  happen,  you 
know  ? " 

"  Do  they  ?  So  they  do  ?  I  wonder  who  said  it  ? 
Yes,"  and  he  repeated  it  over  and  over  to  himself. 
"  That  is  a  fact.  On  that  very  spot  — "  He  looked 
dreamily  at  it,  putting  forth  his  foot  to  touch  it. 

Even  now  it  was  not  that  the  Niagara  swept  him 
downward  beyond  his  strength ;  it  was  because  he 
deliberately  refused  to  put  forth  his  strength  and 
swim  ashore.  Wilfully  and  deliberately  he  gave 
himself  up  to  the  effects  of  loss,  defeat,  sickness  ; 
took  luxurious  pleasure  in  letting  go  and  drifting 
with  the  torrent. 

"  I  am  glad  I  wrote  the  letters.  She  will  under 
stand  ! "  . 

He  sprang  to  his  feet  wide  awake,  resentful.  "  Cow 
ard  ?  Who  said  I  was  a  coward  ?  You  are  a  liar !" 
A  moment  after,  "  I  must  be  crazy."  He  laughed  as 
he  said  it.  "  No ;  I  never  was  more  sane.  I  know  that 
all  is  but  dust,  a  whirl  for  a  moment  of  dust.  How 
angry  she  is,  how  beautiful,  and  how  weak !  Dust, 
only  dust." 


SOLUTION.  411 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

SOLUTION. 

"  T")ERSIS  is  not  well  enough  to  see  any  one."    That 
-*•     was  all  the  satisfaction  Rachel  afforded  me  when, 
as  soon  as  I  could  after  the  departure  of  Ross,  I 
called  at  their  house. 

"  I  hope  she  is  not  seriously  ill  ? "  I  asked,  there  was 
so  much  of  what  I  may  call  determination  in  Rachel's 
face. 

"  Dr.  Trent  does  not  allow  her  to  see  even  Mrs. 
Trent,"  Rachel  said ;  and  the  resolve  in  her  face  took 
so  much  rising  color,  almost  as  of  anger,  but  not  at 
me,  that  I  began  to  talk  of  Ross  instead.  She  listened 
to  me,  as  she  always  did,  with  eyes  serene  and  atten 
tive,  and  to  the  end ;  but  she  would  not  converse 
concerning  him  either,  and  under  disguise  of  chat 
ting  upon  indifferent  topics,  I  gave  myself  up,  as  I 
always  did,  to  a  fresh  study  of  Rachel  herself.  When 
I  say  that  she  had  improved  as  much  if  not  more  than 
Persis,  it  is  not  in  rny  power  to  explain  what  I  mean. 
You  must  know  such  a  woman  for  yourself  to  under 
stand  her.  Both  of  them  had  developed  in  intellect, 
as  in  personal  beauty.  Whatsoever  charm  comes  to 
their  sex  from  frequent  hearing  of  the  best  music, 
from  daily  association  with  the  best  society,  was 


412  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

theirs  alike.  "Will  it  help  us  if  I  say  that,  beyond 
this,  Persis  was  a  specialist  and  Eachel  was  not? 
That  Persis  was  an  enthusiast  in  reference  to  cer 
tain  branches,  while  Rachel  accepted  whatever  she 
learned  in  equal  measure.  In  conversing  with  Persis 
I  noticed  that  her  entire  education  manifested  itself 
in  her  strong  preference  for  this  and  that,  with  dis 
likes  equally  decided,  while  Rachel  was  interested 
but  impartial.  In  Persis  culture  was  an  electric 
fire  quivering  in  her  eyes,  tongue,  finger-tips,  as  in 
brilliant  points ;  in  Rachel  it  was  the  glow  of  a 
higher  health  which  suffused  her  entire  person. 

The  day,  for  instance,  of  which  I  am  speaking,  her 
silence  in  reference  to  Ross  and  Persis,  her  control, 
after  the  first  salutations,  of  her  color  too,  had  deeper 
effect  upon  me  than  words  could  have  had.  But  it  is 
of  Persis  I  wish  now  to  speak,  of  Persis  only.  "  Per 
sis  has  as  much  regard  for  me,"  Dr.  Trent  told  me 
when  I  next  saw  him,  "as  Elizabeth  had  for  Burleigh, 
and  is  about  as  obedient  to  me  as  the  Queen  was  to 
her  counsellor.  When  Urwoldt  saw  her  last,  she 
had  reached  a  climax  of  some  sort,  Heaven  knows 
what.  Things  went  wrong.  If  she  had  succumbed 
at  once  and  cried  herself  out,  she  would  have  been 
over  it  by  this  time.  But  she  would  not.  She  is  a 
woman  of  that  kind,  and,  setting  her  teeth,  she  made 
a  desperate  effort  to  hide  matters,  to  go  on  as  before. 
Her  strength  was  already  exhausted  and  —  down  she 
came." 

"  Surely  there  is  some  remedy,"  I  said. 

Dr.  Trent  sympathized  with  my  anxiety.    "  Opiates 


SOLUTION.  413 

react,"  be  explained.  "  "What  she  needs  is  natural 
rest."  He  paused,  but  I  knew  as  well  what  was 
coming  as  the  traveller  does  who  waits  beside  the 
empty  basin  of  a  geyser.  "  Do  I  not  believe  as 
much,"  he  said  at  last  and  with  vehemence,  "as  a 
man  can  in  education,  in  the  highest  education  for 
women  as  for  men  ?  But  when,"  and  he  was  lifted 
from  his  chair  to  his  feet,  "  a  woman  takes  to  know 
ing  as  a  toper  takes  to  whiskey  — ! " 

"  But  men,  —  do  not  men  —  ? "  I  began. 

"  Not  as  often ;  not  with  such  womanish  intensity. 
Besides,  they  cannot  stand  it  as  men  can.  Let  them 
learn  everything  if  they  will,"  arid  the  Doctor  threw 
his  hands  wildly  apart,  "but  there  is  one  thing  a 
woman  must  do.  She  may  know  much  or  little,  but, 
being  a  woman,  she  must  love,  —  must ! " 

"  Her  parents  died,"  I  began,  "  when  she  was  a  child  ; 
she  has  no  brother,  has  no  sister  —  "  But  the  Doctor 
broke  in  upon  me. 

"  I  never  could  comprehend  how  matters  stand  be 
tween  her  and  Urwoldt,  between  her  and  yourself! 
Mrs.  Trent  does  not,  never  could  !  For  what  I  know, 
Miss  Persis  has  no  lover  unless  it  is  Mr.  Adrian.  Like 
many  of  our  noblest  women,  she  has  not  married  be 
cause,"  with  sarcastic  emphasis,  "  she  has  as  yet  found 
no  man  worthy  of  her.  You  have  disappointed  us, 
Guernsey,"  he  added,  "  cruelly  disappointed  us  !  Never 
was  there  a  woman  so  admirably  suited  in  every  way 
to  you." 

"  Perhaps  there  are  reasons,"  I  stammered,  "  circum 
stances  which  I  cannot  expl —  " 


414  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"  Oh !  ah  !  Pardon  me.  I  am  beginning  to  under 
stand  !  She  would  u't  have  you  ?  Mrs.  Trent  did  not 
know  that.  Then,"  and  the  warm-hearted  physician 
seized  my  reluctant  hand,  "  it  is  in  her  I  am  cruelly 
disappointed.  Yes,  yes,  I  will  say  no  more  !  Except 
this,  that,  being  a  woman,  she  must  love  —  some 
body.  A  woman  cares  nothing  for  science,  for  any 
system  of  truth  whatever,  but  solely  for  detached 
facts;  nor  for  a  separate  fact,  except  so  far  as  her 
feeling  is  enlisted  for  it  in  some  way.  For  the  race 
she  cares  nothing ;  only  for  her  mother,  child,  lover, 
husband.  You  cannot  feed  the  ears  with  splendid 
sights  any  more  than  you  can  satisfy  the  eyes  with 
music.  Persis  could  not  stop  the  craving  of  her 
brain,  if  she  should  try  to  do  so,  with  loving.  How, 
then,  can  she  satisfy  her  heart  with  knowing,  and 
when  her  heart  is  really  the  largest  part  of  her !  If 
there  is  no  man  she  thinks  worthy  her  love,  she  can 
love  God,  can't  she  ?  When  a  woman  has  no  God,  it 
is  ten  times  worse  with  them  than  it  is  with  men." 
And  he  illustrated  it  from  his  experience  to  a  degree 
I  do  not  care  to  repeat. 

"  That  is  the  reason,"  he  added  at  last,  "  why  Persis 
perplexes  Rachel  so.  Rachel  does  not  talk  about  her, 
but  Rachel  cannot  even  imagine  any  one  without  a 
faith  and  a  love,  at  least  for  her  Maker,  which  conies 
first  and  before  everything  else.  To  her  Persis  is  a 
painful  puzzle.  If  she  were  a  sceptical  brother  in 
stead,  Rachel  would  say,  'Oh,  it  is  because  he  is  a 
man,  and  a  wicked  man,  for  what  I  know,'  but  for 
a  woman  to  doubt !  To  Rachel  it  is  an  unfeminine 


SOLUTION,  415 

peculiarity,  an  absurd  crotchet ;  worse,  really,  than  if 
her  friend  should  adopt  boots  and  trousers.  She  never 
reasons  about  it  with  Persis  ;  it  is  something  too  eccen 
tric  to  be  reasoned  about.  Rachel  cares  less  for  learn 
ing  on  that  account,  but  she  has  on  that  account  a 
more  pitying  love  and  care  for  her  friend.  I  admire 
Persis,  but  Eachel  I  admire  and  love,"  said  Dr.  Trent. 

That  was  all  he  would  say  about  his  patient;  he 
would  go  into  no  details.  When  wrought  up  he  used 
frightful  language  concerning  the  follies  in  general  of 
women ;  as  to  particulars  he  was  as  silent  as  if  it  was 
of  his  own  wife  he  was  speaking. 

I  was  very  busy  in  the  days  which  followed.  When 
ever  I  was  in  the  city,  and  had  time  to  do  so,  I  pre 
ferred  to  get  my  information  in  regard  to  Persis  from 
Rachel,  especially  as  Dr.  Trent  and  his  wife  grew  shy 
of  speaking  freely  to  me  of  her.  There  was  a  sudden 
pity,  too,  in  Mrs.  Trent's  eyes  the  instant  we  met. 
She  would  check  herself  from  her  usual  high  spirits 
when  with  me ;  would  say,  by  way  of  comforting  me, 
more  things  about  my  lectures  and  books  than  facts 
warranted.  She  was  so  careful  in  her  allusions  to 
Persis,  was  so  consolatory  that  I  almost  liked  it  in 
the  end,  as  one  does  a  new  species  of  confectionery. 
For  I  had,  from  ignorance,  maybe,  no  fear  that  Persis 
would  die,  even  that  she  would  be  ill  for  any  long 
time.  She  possessed,  whenever  I  saw  her,  an  elastic 
energy  which  reassured  me.  One  afternoon  Jean 
came  into  the  office  where  I  was  seated  waiting  for 
her  father,  and  putting  his  microscope  out  of  order 
while  I  did  so.  Jean  is  not  fourteen  as  yet,  and,  by 


416  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

reason  of  her  golden  hair,  we  are  great  friends.  After 
standing  for  some  time  in  silence  beside  me,  she  re 
marked  soberly, — 

"  Miss  Persis  is  very  sick,  is  n't  she,  Mr.  Guernsey  ? " 

"  Yes,  no,  —  oh,  no,  not  very  sick,"  I  said. 

"  Mr.  Guernsey,"  Jean  planted  herself  full  in  front 
of  me  to  ask  it,  "  do  you  love  Miss  Persis  very  much  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  Don't  you  love  her  too  ? "  But  I  felt 
my  face  growing  hot  under  the  compassionate  eyes  of 
the  immature  woman,  who  kissed  me  by  way  of  silent 
consolation,  and  walked  sadly  away,  as  if  she  knew 
things  which  I  was  not  prepared  to  hear  as  yet. 
There  had  been  many  weeks,  even  months,  during 
which  Persis  was  out  of  the  city  with  Rachel  some 
where.  I  also  was  forced  to  go  away  again,  and  I 
had  a  general  idea  that  Persis  was  so  ill  that,  however 
anxious  I  might  be,  it  would  be  best  I  should  not  in 
quire  into  it  too  often  or  too  closely.  But  Jean  must 
have  been  mistaken,  for  when,  on  my  and  their  return, 
I  arranged  with  Rachel  to  have  Persis  take  a  ride  one 
lovely  October  afternoon,  Rachel  was  sure  it  would  do 
her  good.  Obtaining  the  most  comfortable  carriage, 
and  the  safest  horses  and  driver  to  be  had,  I  rode  to 
the  door  merely  to  see  the  ladies  off;  but  when  Persis 
was  comfortably  nestled  beside  Rachel  on  the  back  seat, 
they  begged  me  to  go  with  them.  I  thanked  them, 
declined,  replaced  my  hat  on  my  head,  and  was  walk 
ing  off,  when  Rachel  remarked,  "  Mr.  Guernsey,  please 
get  in,"  but  in  such  a  way  —  some  women  have  it  — 
that  without  a  word  I  took  the  seat  opposite  them, 
and  we  drove  off. 


SOLUTION.  417 

Not  until  we  were  out  of  the  city  did  I  take  a  good 
look  at  Persis.  She  had  on  a  dress  of  what  is  called, 
I  think,  myrtle-green,  with  a  fleecy  wrap  of  some 
cream-colored  material  about  her  head  and  shoulders. 
Except  that  she  was  thinner,  I  could  not  see  that 
she  was  sick.  Her  cheeks  were  bright,  as  were  her 
eyes.  She  had  larger,  finer  eyes  than  I  had  supposed, 
more  intelligent,  they  seemed  to  me.  For  I  tried, 
very  quietly  though,  to  interest  her  as  we  rolled  at 
last  through  the  woods  ablaze,  by  this  time,  with  the 
glories  of  autumn. 

"  I  had  no  idea  it  was  so  beautiful,"  Persis  said,  and 
I  felt  as  if  winter  itself  had  touched  me  when  I  saw 
a  subtle  likeness  between  her  and  the  foliage  on 
either  hand.  The  manifold  gradations  of  gold,  from 
black  which  is  becoming  bronze  up  to  brilliant  yel 
low,  with  reminiscences  of  a  more  ardent  red  in  the 
pink  which  streaked  and  tinged  the  leaves,  —  these 
told  of  a  ripeness  which  was  hastening  toward  decay. 

Why  is  it  that  one  is  sure  to  say,  and  from  one's 
very  eagerness  not  to  do  so,  precisely  the  thing  which 
should  not  be  said  ?  It  was  so  now.  "  To  think,"  I 
remarked,  "  that  last  June  all  these  woods  were  of  a 
tender  green !  The  year  is  a  babe  stricken  with  these 
colors  of  age  and  death  before  it  is  five  months  old  ! " 
And  I  saw  my  blunder  in  the  tears  which  gathered  in 
the  lashes  of  Rachel,  but  I  was  glad  that  she  was  too 
much  occupied  with  her  friend  to  look  at  me  as  I 
deserved. 

"  It  is  so  beautiful,"  Persis  said,  loving  the  foliage 
with  lingering  eyes  as  we  passed  slowly  along.  Her 

27 


418  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

accents  were  in  unison  with  the  waning  life  of  the 
woods.  It  clothed  her  like  the  crape  of  a  nun,  her  evi 
dent  abandonment  of  things.  She  was  so  exhausted 
as  to  have  lost  the  desire  to  strive.  Something 
stronger  than  herself  had  come  upon  her,  and  so 
tamed  her  that  she  loved  the  subjection. 

"  It  is  merely  a  passing  weakness,"  I  thought ;  "  she 
will  get  well."  But  I  dared  not  look  again  when  I 
noticed  how  the  tears  of  her  utter  surrender  were 
moistening  her  eyelashes.  Her  silence  seemed  to 
subdue  even  Rachel  into  a  quieter  affection,  but  she 
looked  at  me  at  last  in  such  a  way  that  I  began  again 
to  talk  lightly  of  this,  of  that.  And  I  did  succeed  in 
bringing  the  smiles  to  the  face  of  Persis  at  last.  For 
not  even  then  did  I  know  how  long  and  how  well 
she  had  loved  Ross,  how  her  hard  work  was  but  a 
means  toward  that,  how  she  was  sceptical  because 
"  she  believed  that,"  as  Rachel  told  me  afterward, 
"  even  if  books  /ailed  her  she  had  Ross.  When  he 
failed  her,  too,  and  was  gone,"  Rachel  added,  "  she 
broke  down  utterly.  Then  she  rallied  herself,  and 
made  so  frantic  an  effort  to  go  on  with  her  teaching 
—  for  she  had  a  noble  position  —  that  when  she  fell 
in  the  effort  it  seemed  impossible  she  would  ever  re 
cover.  I  will  never  speak  of  those  dreadful  days  !  " 
Rachel  vowed,  and  she  has  kept  her  vow. 

There  were  many  things  taking  place  at  that  time 
which  I  cannot  mention  as  yet,  but  out  of  our  ride 
that  day  came  one  result. 

"  I  intend  to  go  to  Ocklawahaw,"  Persis  announced 
as  we  returned  homeward. 


SOLUTION.  '419 

"  Will  Dr.  Trent  consent  ? "  I  asked  in  amazement. 

"  I  am  going  in  any  case,"  she  said. 

It  was  not  that  she  was  not  submissive,  but  it  was 
to  another  man  than  to  Dr.  Trent.  Ross  had  always 
had  firm  hold  upon  her  since  she  could  remember; 
now  he  was  drawing  her  to  himself  through  all  that 
lay  between.  I  dare  not  say  that  Eachel  and  myself 
could  feel,  through  Persis,  the  irresistible  grasp  which 
was  laid  upon  her,  but  we  knew  that  we  must  go 
with  her  if  she  persisted. 

In  this  remarkable  world  things  fit  with  accuracy, 
and  the  fit  —  there  is  no  other  word  for  it  —  of  its 
burr  to  the  chestnut,  of  its  air  to  the  lungs,  of  the  light 
to  the  eyes,  is  but  an  instance  of  the  universal  adjust 
ment.  For  there  was  a  sort  of  parenthesis  in  my 
affairs  during  which  I  had  nothing  else  to  do,  exactly 
then,  but  to  go  with  the  two  friends.  It  is  not  neces 
sary  to  detail  all  that. 

"  Go  ?  Yes,  by  all  means  ! "  Dr.  Trent  assented. 
"  It  is  the  best  thing  that  can  be  done  for  Persis.  I 
do  not  want,"  he  added,  "  to  distress  you,  Guernsey, 
but  if  I  were  to  tell  you  what  might  befall  her,  it 
would  break  your  heart.  Be  sure  and  start  soon." 

We  took  our  time  at  it  after  we  were  started.  By 
rail,  by  steamer,  by  rail  again,  by  steamer  once  more, 
by  private  conveyance,  we  reached  Ocklawahaw  at 
last.  We  had  arranged  beforehand  for  rooms  with 
the  family  which  lived  in  the  house  once  owned  by 
Rachel  Mrs.  Amasa  Clarke  was  there  to  greet  us. 
She  astonished  me.  It  was  hard  to  think  that  so 
coarse  a  woman  could  be  the  mother  of  Ross,  the 


420  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

mother  he  used  to  boast  of  to  me  when  we  were  in 
college.  He  had  told  me  how  she  had  changed,  but 
I  was  not  prepared  for  change  as  great.  The  poor 
woman  was  glad  to  see  Rachel  and  Persis  again,  and 
yet  she  saw  the  change  in  them  too,  and  shrank  from 
it,  I  could  see  that.  There  was  an  old  negro  woman, 
Seelye,  who  was  beside  herself  with  joy  at  our  coming. 
I  do  not  imagine  that  she  could  have  changed  in  any 
thing,  Persis  and  Eachel  were  so  glad  to  see  her. 

I  confess  that  I  was  not  quite  prepared  for  Ockla- 
wahaw.  It  is  true  that  I  had  seen  many  of  the 
roughest  regions  during  the  war.  Our  journeying 
had,  of  late,  been  through  a  cypress  swamp  which 
ought  to  have  made  the  town  an  Eden  in  comparison. 
Moreover,  Ross  and  the  young  ladies  had  never  de 
scribed  their  old  home  to  me  in  any  other  light. 
Most  of  all,  my  introduction  to  the  Mitchabuna  of 
other  years  should  have  qualified  me  for  what  fol 
lowed.  And  yet,  when  I  sallied  out  the  morning 
after  our  arrival,  I  was  long  in  accepting  the  fact  that 
this  was  indeed  the  place  in  which  Ross,  in  which 
Persis  and  Rachel,  had  lived  so  long ! 

Let  me  acknowledge  it  frankly,  I  was  borne  up 
and  over  even  Ocklawahaw,  as  I  had  been  during  our 
coming  thither,  by  Persis.  She  grew  stronger  with 
every  mile  since  leaving  the  East.  The  morning  after 
we  came  to  Ocklawahaw  she  was  radiant,  not  with 
joy  but  with  excitement.  But  her  eagerness  looked 
beyond  Ocklawahaw  to  that  which  drew  her,  and 
more  vigorously  now  than  ever,  to  something  beyond. 

Rachel  had  put  on  a  new  beauty  the  moment  we 


SOLUTION.  421 

went  down  the  steps  of  the  porch  and  out  into  the 
November  coolness.  "Here  is  the  same  dear  old 
silkweed,"  she  said.  It  was  nothing  but  a  low  brown 
shrub,  with  queer  bowls  full  of  flossy  silk,  but  she 
took  the  silvery  streamers  in  her  hand  as  lovingly  as 
if  they  were  the  locks  of  a  child,  herself  a  child 
again.  "And  this  is  our  Indian- weed  once  more," 
she  cried,  seizing  upon  one  of  the  myriad  stalks  of 
an  ugly  growth  with  which  the  country  was  disfig 
ured.  "  Listen,  Persis  ! "  And  she  shook  it  till  the 
pods  rattled  again,  and  both  of  them  laughed  with 
glee  at  the  sound.  "  Yonder  are  the  same  old,  old 
Indians  wrapped  in  their  blankets  and  sitting  in  the 
sun,"  she  said,  as  we  walked  on.  "  If  you  were  an 
artist,  Mr.  Guernsey  — "  And  she  pointed  out  the 
children  who  had  grouped  themselves  to  stare  at  us, 
as  we  went,  half  naked  most  of  them,  chilly  as  it  was. 
Nor  did  my  companions  seem  at  all  afraid  of  the 
men  loitering  about,  with  beards  as  portentous  as 
their  flapping  hats.  That  these  companions  of  mine 
should  have  originated  in  such  scenes,  it  was  that 
which  bewildered  me.  Until,  at  last,  like  a  man 
swept  downward  by  a  muddy  torrent,  I  laid  hold 
upon  the  low-hanging  limbs  of  the  live-oaks  every 
where  about  me,  with  their  leaves  still  green  among 
the  swinging  masses  of  gray  moss,  nothing  could  be 
more  magnificent,  and  by  their  help  I  regained  my 
feet,  so  to  speak,  and  entered  into  the  nature  of 
things,  understood  it  all,  and  was  myself  again. 

Rachel  and  I  yielded,  as  we  had  done  all  along,  to 
Persis,  when  she  halted  in  front  of  a  disreputable  log 


422  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

tavern,  and  begged  me  to  go  in  with  a  question  for 
the  keeper.  "Was  it  pure  intuition  on  her  part  ?  Per 
haps  Boss  had  written  to  her.  She  may  have  heard 
in  some  other  way,  I  never  asked.  But  the  tavern- 
keeper  told  me  yes ;  that  Colonel  Urwoldt  had  come  to 
town.  He  was  not  in  the  house ;  he  was  out  "  a  hunt 
ing,"  and  my  informant  threw  his  hand  in  a  general 
way  up  street.  Could  he  let  us  have  a  light  wagon 
and  a  pair  of  horses  ?  That  he  did  not  know  ;  and  he 
came  out  upon  the  front  porch  to  think  more  clearly, 
scratching  behind  his  ear,  looking  suspiciously  at 
me  as  he  did  so. 

Some  people  are  fond  of  ferns ;  others  have  a  pas 
sion  for  dogs,  for  horses.  As  I  have  already  remarked 
too  often,  my  chief  interest  is  in  people,  and  I 
watched  my  newly  made  friend  as  he  stood,  shirt- 
sleeved,  upon  the  steps,  and '  stared  at  Rachel  and 
Persis  waiting  on  what  ought  to  have  been  the  side 
walk.  It  was  not  often  that  he  saw  ladies.  Never 
had  he  seen  such  ladies,  never ! 

"  Mr.  Golson,"  said  Rachel,  "  don't  you  know  us  ? 
This  is  Persis  Paige.  I  am  Governor  Beauchamp's 
daughter,  Rachel.  Have  you  forgotten  us  so  soon  ?  " 

The  man  was  the  roughest  of  the  rough,  pitted  with 
small-pox,  a  scar  across  his  left  temple,  and  now, 
his  hand  still  in  his  shock  of  red  hair,  he  stood  and 
stared.  Both  Persis  and  Rachel  laughed  and  blushed, 
and  Persis,  strange  to  say,  the  most,  so  excited  was 
she,  the  flattery  of  the  man's  astonishment  was  so 
sincere.  It  was  some  time  before  he  could  adjust 
himself  to  the  circumstances.  But  he  knew  from  the 


SOLUTION.  423 

instant  of  his  recovery  that  he  did  have  horses  and 
wagon,  and  it  was  not  long  before  I  had  helped  the 
ladies  into  it,  had  gathered  up  the  reins  and  was 
driving  off.  The  last  I  saw  of  him  he  was  standing 
on  the  ground  gazing  after  us,  his  hand  in  his  hair, 
endeavoring  to  realize  things. 

I  knew,  without  looking  back,  as  I  whipped  the 
hard-worked  plough-horses  along,  that  Persis  was 
greatly  elated ;  that  Rachel  had  firm  hold  upon  her 
hand,  and  was  whispering  to  her  as  we  went.  I 
turned  here  and  there  at  a  word  from  Rachel ;  there 
was  a  half-suppressed  exclamation  as  we  passed  near 
an  immense  sycamore,  under  which  was  a  large  stone. 
Soon  after  we  emerged  from  the  village,  and  the 
woods  which  belted  it  in,  upon  a  highway  leading 
between  fields,  and  then  on  and  on,  up  and  down, 
over  a  rolling  prairie.  None  of  us  felt  disposed  to  talk. 
As  I  checked  the  horses  for  a  descent  toward  what 
seemed  to  be  a  creek  winding  its  way  through  wil 
lows,  I  glanced  back.  The  remark  I  was  about  to 
make  died  on  my  lips  !  Persis  must  have  had  a  let 
ter,  must  have  had  information  of  some  kind,  for  she 
was  seated,  her  face  now  dark  and  cold,  drawn  tense 
and  silent  by  I  know  not  what.  As  we  stopped  in 
the  stream  to  allow  the  horses  to  drink,  I  said  some 
thing.  Rachel  replied  to  me,  but  Persis,  held  firmly 
by  Rachel,  was  looking  to  the  right  and  left,  like  a 
deer  in  search  of  its  fawn.  There  was  nothing  to  be 
seen  or  heard,  and  we  drove  up  the  ascent  on  the 
other  side.  By  what  I  caught  as  I  drove,  I  judged 
that  Persis  had  given  way  and  was  weeping.  Rachel 


424  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

was  whispering  in  a  soothing  tone,  and  said  to  me, 
after  we  had  gone  two  or  three  miles,  "  That  will  do, 
Mr.  Guernsey ;  please  turn  and  let  us  go  back." 

I  think  we  could  not  have  been  two  hundred  yards 
from  the  creek  on  our  return,  when,  looking  back,  I 
saw  that  Persia  had  ceased  to  weep,  was  rigid  again 
as  with  intense  expectation.  Even  Rachel  sat  pale, 
and  almost  terrified.  At  the  instant  there  was  the 
report  of  a  gun,  and  with  it  Persis  had  risen  to  her 
feet,  was  struggling  with  Rachel,  who  had  thrown 
her  arms  about  her. 

"  It  is  all  right,"  Rachel  said,  clear  and  calm ;  "  drive 
on,  Mr.  Guernsey  ! " 

What  came  after  was  swift  beyond  measure,  yet 
exceeding  slow  as  in  a  dream.  Before  I  could  cross 
the  stream  Persis  had  broken  furiously  from  her 
friend,  had  leaped  into  the  water,  had  dragged  herself 
through  it,  had  thrown  herself  moaning  upon  the 
earth,  her  head  upon  the  bosom,  her  arms  about  the 
head  of  Ross  Urwoldt,  lying  where  his  father  had 
died,  a  shattered  little  gun  beside  him,  wounded  ap 
parently  to  death. 

I  think,  looking  back  at  it,  that  when  a  woman  is 
most  a  woman  she  enters  upon  the  possession  of 
qualities  which  are  those  of  men,  but  of  men  never 
except  rarely,  and  then  only  when  at  their  best.  It 
was  Rachel,  not  I,  who  took  command.  Weeping, 
but  not  interrupted  thereby  an  instant,  she  had 
cut  open  the  coat  and  underclothing  of  my  poor 
classmate,  had  torn  something  into  strips,  was 
stanching  his  wounds  before  I  realized  what  had 


SOLUTION.  425 

happened.  Under  her  directions  I  untied  the  bucket 
hanging  between  the  hind  wheels  of  our  vehicle,  and 
brought  water.  Then  I  spread  the  old  buffalo-skin 
in  the  bottom  of  the  wagon,  helped  make  Persis  get 
in  and  sit  down  on  it,  throwing  out  for  the  purpose 
the  movable  seat  upon  which  she  and  Eachel  had 
ridden.  After  that  Eachel  and  I  lifted  Ross  in,  laid 
his  head  in  the  lap  of  Persis,  Eachel  seated  beside 
her.  Then  I  drove  toward  the  village  as  rapidly  as 
I  dared. 

I  had  placed  the  bucket  in  the  wagon  before  start 
ing,  and  Eachel  continued  to  bathe  the  unconscious 
face,  to  stanch  the  ugly  wounds.  Not  a  word  was 
said  by  us,  and  I  am  sure  that  Persis  was  aware  only 
that  Eoss  was  lying  there.  She  did  not  know  where 
she  was,  who  we  were.  With  a  hand  on  either  side 
of  his  head,  smoothing  out  his  matted  hair,  untan 
gling  his  heavy  beard,  she  was  kissing  his  lips,  and 
crooning  inarticulately  over  him,  like  a  child  over  its 
dead  bird.  It  was  Eachel  who  wept  as  she  worked. 
The  eyes  of  Persis  were  dry  and  glittering. 

I  had  not  observed  things  as  we  went,  but  now  it 
seemed  to  me  as  if  sudden  winter  had  smitten  the 
world.  The  prairie  stretched  brown  and  barren  on 
every  side.  The  fields,  as  we  passed  among  them, 
the  corn  in  stacks,  here  and  there,  looked  desolate 
enough  among  the  stubble.  So  tense  was  every  nerve 
that  I  could  hear  their  leaves,  brown  and  dry,  rustling 
in  the  breeze  which  was  rapidly  rising.  When  we 
drove  beneath  the  live-oaks  the  breeze  had  become  a 
strong  wind  which  was  swaying  the  hanging  moss  like 


426  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

banners  on  the  blast.  It  was  raining,  and  I  saw  a  bit 
of  hail  lying  upon  the  exposed  forehead  of  my  friend 
as  I  glanced  around,  before  driving  on  more  swiftly. 
Then  there  was  a  rush,  a  roar,  as  if  all  at  once  a  cat 
aract  had  fallen  from  heaven  upon  us.  The  air  was 
full  of  flying  leaves,  of  shreds  of  moss,  and  then  it 
was  as  if  the  clouds  themselves  had  descended  upon 
our  heads  !  I  had  entered  upon  my  first  experi 
ence  of  a  norther,  and  so  blinded  were  we  by  the 
sudden  tempest  that  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  guide 
the  affrighted  horses  to  the  house  at  which  we  were 
staying. 


CERTAINTY  ITSELF.  427 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

CERTAINTY   ITSELF. 

T  AM  obliged  again  to  go  back  to  events  which 
-^  took  place  before  our  coming  to  Ocklawahaw.  If 
I  seem  indefinite  as  to  the  precise  date  to  which  I 
wish  to  return,  the  uncertainty  has  reference  to  that 
alone ;  in  everything  else  I  am  as  thoroughly  assured, 
as  vigorously  confident,  as  the  dryest  mathematician 
could  desire. 

Not  the  smallest  intention  have  I  of  telling  at  this 
late  hour  the  story  of  how,  and  all  along,  I  had  wooed 
Rachel ;  it  is  with  the  blessed  result  thereof  alone 
that  I  have  now  to  do.  This  I  must  add,  though  I 
am  sure  to  say  it  over  again  before  I  am  through,  — 
that  both  of  us,  and  from  the  outset,  were  confident 
how  it  would  end.  An  oak  is  an  oak  from  the  acorn, 
and  our  mutual  affection  in  its  germ,  growth,  flower, 
fruit,  was  and  could  be  none  other  than  of  the  order 
of  the  certainties. 

Dr.  Steven  Trent  knew  nothing  of  it !  His  knowl 
edge  of  the  sex  was  the  result  of  long,  thoroughgoing, 
sympathetic  study,  but  round-headed  little  Guernsey 
knew  as  much  of  the  matter  to  which  I  allude  as 
he.  When  it  broke  upon  him  at  last,  it  so  staggered 
him  that  I  do  not  think  he  will  ever  again  be  quite 


428  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

as  dogmatic  concerning  women  as  he  was  before.  As 
to  Jean,  she  had  always  considered  me  as  merely  the 
larger  of  the  two  Guernseys,  in  some  respects  younger 
than  her  brother,  the  one  over  whom  she  could  tyran 
nize  most.  She  had  no  idea  of  it.  During  the  minute 
of  her  coming,  at  last,  to  know,  I  grew  many  hundred 
years  older  in  her  estimation,  and  have  been  to  her  as 
a  beloved  but  venerated  grandfather  ever  since.  Fer- 
sis  had  acquired  the  art  of  knowing  everything  under 
and  beyond  the  sun,  as  a  gifted  musician  gains,  and 
by  never-ending  practice,  the  command  of  the  piano, 
yet  Persis  did  not  know,  for  a  long  time  at  least, 
there  was  anything  in  that  direction  to  know  ! 

What  gratified  me  most  was  that  the  knowledge 
came  upon  Mrs.  Trent,  when  it  did  come,  like  a  some 
thing  —  shall  we  say  a  shower-bath  ?  —  which  took 
her  breath  away.  This  was  the  stranger  since  Rachel 
and  herself  are  of  the  same  type,  not  so  intellectual, 
it  may  be,  as  Minerva,  not  as  intense  in  pursuit  of 
an  object  as  Diana,  but  of  the  gracious,  beneficent, 
altogether  lovable  womanliness,  I  will  not  say  of 
Venus,  but  of  Ceres.  Yet  I  know  why  Mrs.  Trent 
was,  when  she  did  learn  the  amazing  fact,  most 
amazed  of  all.  If  they  do  belong  to  the  same  type, 
the  highest  to  me  of  all,  none  the  less  does  Eachel 
surpass  her  in  the  peculiar  and  divine  excellences 
of  the  same,  in  virtue  of  being  so  much  the  younger 
and  therefore  the  more  advanced  of  the  two.  For,  as 
has  been  said,  while  men  are  stationary  as  a  sex, 
women  in  all  their  types  are  ascending.  You  can 
measure  their  ascent  during  the  past;  how  much 


CERTAINTY  ITSELF.  429 

nearer  they  are  to  climb  toward  himself  in  the  future, 
God  alone  knows ! 

I  do  not  blame  Eoss  so  much  for  not  knowing  how 
Rachel  and  I  stood  toward  each  other.  It  was  of 
Persis  I  said  most,  when  I  had  written  to  or  talked 
with  him,  because  she  it  was  who,  by  her  incessant 
activity,  by  her  striking  success  in  certain  things, 
gave  me  most  to  say.  Now  I  recall  it,  I  must  have 
shown  that  enthusiasm  which  enthusiasts  always  have 
for  enthusiastic  people  provided  their  tastes  and  oc 
cupations  run,  as  in  this  case,  in  the  same  channels. 
Yes,  I  must  have  produced  in  him,  as  in  everybody 
else,  the  impression  that  I  was  in  love  with  Persis. 

And  so  I  was.  But  Ross  would  not  have  fallen 
into  his  mistake  about  me  if  he  had  known !  One 
word  to  Persis  would  have  relieved  him.  Rachel 
understood  it !  From  the  day  I  first  saw  them 
after  their  coming  to  the  city  she  knew  that  it 
must  be  Persis,  not  herself,  with  whom,  in  certain 
respects,  I  would  be  most  occupied.  It  was  Persis 
who  took  the  lead  in  asking  me  as  to  what  studies  she 
should  undertake,  what  books  she  should  read.  Af 
terward  it  was  natural  my  conversation  should  be 
most  with  Persis,  and  not  as  regards  her  education 
only.  So  of  our  conversations  concerning  what  I  had 
written,  was  about  to  write,  while  Rachel  sat  by  and 
listened,  came  into  the  room  and  went  out  as  she 
pleased,  many  and  long  and  animated  were  the  con 
versations  I  had  with  Persis.  Of  course,  as  her 
intellect  developed,  as  her  improvement  advanced, 
my  interest  in  so  gifted  and  determined  a  woman 


430  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

increased.  Driven  here  and  there  as  I  was,  how 
could  I  fail  to  find  particular  pleasure,  during  my 
hasty  sojourns  in  the  city,  in  talking  with  such  a 
woman  and  upon  such  topics  ?  The  keen  variety  of 
it  to  my  ordinary  life  gave  special  zest  to  this ;  Ra- 
chel  understood  that  perfectly. 

"And,  then,  Persis  is  coming  to  be  a  strikingly 
handsome  woman."  It  was  to  Rachel  I  made  the  re 
mark  when  we  were  alone  together  one  day.  "  That 
is,"  I  explained,  "  when  she  is  excited." 

"  And  conversing,"  Rachel  added  while  I  was  stop 
ping  to  say  to  myself,  — 

"  But  you  are  beautiful  instead,  and  you  are  al 
ways  the  same."  What  I  uttered  was,  "  When  Persis 
comes  into  the  parlor  she  is  pale  and  worn.  Her 
face  has  almost  the  alabaster  whiteness  of  the  globe 
of  an  unlighted  lamp.  But  it  is  an  electric  lamp, 
and  conversation  is  the  machinery  which  lights  it. 
When  it  is  about  things  of  interest  to  her,  almost 
from  the  first  word  her  fires  begin  to  burn.  She  can 
not  keep  her  hands  still,  she  becomes  more  and  more 
interested,  radiant,  to  the  end.  When  the  revolving 
magnets  of  conversation  are  stopped,  then  comes  re 
action,  I  fear." 

"  She  is  so  much  interested,  and  in  so  many  things  ! 
Yes,  she  kindles  at  a  word.  If  it  were  not  for  the 
having  to  come  down  again,  I  almost  wish,"  Rachel 
laughed,  "  that  I  could  go  into  raptures.  But  I  love 
to  see  Persis  in  them,  she  becomes  so  beautiful." 

"  And  is  this  what  the  Rev.  Mr.  Adair  thinks  when 
she  talks  speculative  theology  with  him  ? " 


CERTAINTY  ITSELF.  431 

"Yes,"  Eachel  assented  slowly,  "except  that  all 
his  ideas  were  new  at  first  to  her.  She  thought  there 
was  something  wonderful  in  them.  But  Mr.  Adair 
had  entertained  them  long  before.  He  was  nearly 
through  with  them,"  Rachel  said  simply,  "  when  Per- 
sis  began.  What  he  was  interested  in  was  in  her  in 
terest.  There  was  something  positive  in  her,  you  see. 
She  is  not  a  —  a  —  "  Eachel  was  in  pain  for  a  simile 
thin  enough. 

"  A  vapor,"  I  ventured. 

"  It  is  thinner  than  that,"  and  Rachel  shook  her 
head  without  a  smile.  "  I  am  so  sorry  for  him  !  Mr. 
Adair  got  through  all  his  speculations,  got  at  last  out 
of  them ;  yes,  clear  through  the  last  of  them  into  — 
into  —  I  do  not  know  what  to  call  it  —  into  —  noth 
ing.  He  told  her  so.  Persis  cried  about  it.  He 
told  her  that  beside  her  he  had  nothing  left  him 
to  love,  to  believe  in.  '  Neither  have  I/  Persis  told 
him.  You  see,  she,  also,  was  through  with  all  the 
theories  by  that  time.  '  Neither  of  us  has  one  soli 
tary  belief  left,'  she  said  to  him;  'it  was  your  beautiful 
reasoning  I  loved  so,'  she  said.  '  Now  that  neither 
of  us  has  anything  left  us,  Mr.  Adair,  we  are  too  poor 
to  marry.'  Persis  laughed  when  she  said  that  to 
him,  but  she  cried  over  it  afterward  in  our  room. 

"Oh,  yes,  Mr.  Guernsey,"  Rachel  came  back  to 
where  we  began,  "  when  I  hear  you  and  Persis  talk,  — 
talk  so  long,  so  eagerly,  —  it  is  something  like  that. 
I  understand  ! "  She  had  quite  a  motherly  air  as  she 
said  it.  We  could  not  disquiet  her  ! 

For  not  only  had  I  fallen  in  love  with  Rachel  from 


432  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

an  early  period  of  her  coming  to  the  city,  but  I  told 
her  so  as  soon  as  I  did.  She  was  gentle  and  yet  firm, 
intelligent  yet  silent,  good  yet  perfectly  sensible, 
Christian  without  a  particle  of  cant,  sympathetic  yet 
not  effusive,  beautiful  yet  unconscious  of  it  —  If  it 
will  help  any  one  to  understand  my  feelings,  I  will 
say  that,  while  I  can  enjoy  a  good  sonnet  as  much  as 
any  one,  I  greatly  preferred  to  the  best  of  them  a  pe 
culiar  way  she  had  of  arranging  her  fair  and  abundant 
hair.  No  man  I  know  of  has,  or  possibly  can  have, 
a  greater  pleasure  than  myself  in  a  well-ordered  and 
Ho  wing  poem,  but  I  had,  and  from  the  first,  yet  more 
satisfaction  by  far  in  the  color  and  flow  of  her  drapery. 
Persia  said  strong  things,  brilliant  things ;  but  there 
was  a  uniform  sense  and  sweetness  in  the  conversation 
of  Rachel,  to  which  I  turned  as  one  does  from  confec 
tionery  to  —  breakfast  ?  to  breakfast,  dinner,  supper. 
As  I  told  Ross,  Persis  was  one  of  the  most  original 
women  in  what  she  thought  and  said ;  what  I  did  not 
tell  him  was  that,  to  me,  Rachel  was  herself  such  an 
original  as  Eve  was.  There  was  a  virginal  freshness 
in  Rachel  herself,  —  in  her  beauty,  her  voice,  her  way 
of  not  saying  and  doing  things  —  Our  affection  for 
each  other  was  as  natural  as  food  and  sleep  and 
drink.  I  did  not  have  to  come  down  again  after  talk 
ing  with  her.  We  walked  as  in  the  summer  mead 
ows  of  daily  life,  side  by  side,  but  each  at  his  or  her 
own  gait.  There  was  not  the  least  exertion  on  either 
side.  We  were  simply  ourselves  — 

I  would  not  be  so  broken  and  abrupt  in  what  I  am 
trying  to  say,  could  I  have  begun  at  the  beginning, 


CERTAINTY  ITSELF.  433 

and  told  of  all  this  as  it  took  place.  But  I  assure 
you  I  did  not  hesitate  in  telling  Eachel  about  it.  I 
seemed  to  myself  to  be  not  more  than  ten  years  old 
at  the  time,  Eachel  vastly  wiser,  yet  only  a  year  or  so 
younger  than  I.  Living,  therefore,  as  we  did,  in  an 
old-fashioned  period,  apart  from  more  modern  people 
and  fashions,  I  fell  desperately  in  love  with  her  from 
the  start,  and  just  like  a  boy.  Not  that  I  had  not 
known  the  gust  of  a  feverish  passion  before,  but,  in  all 
sincerity,  she  was  my  first  sweetheart.  It  was  part  of 
our  childish  pleasure  to  tell  nobody  about  it,  having 
excellent  reason  for  not  doing  so,  and  having  many  a 
childish  laugh  about  it  all  along.  Nobody  imagined 
such  a  thing  of  people  so  unlike.  We  contrived  to 
see  more  of  each  other,  Persis  was  so  busy,  than  you 
would  think.  Whenever  we  were  separated,  as  was 
often  -the  case,  we  corresponded  closely.  I  wrote  to 
her  wherever  I  happened  to  be,  almost  every  day,  and 
it  was  the  chief  pleasure  to  me  of  the  day  to  do  so. 
Rachel  did  not  write  as  often,  yet  the  first  thing  I  did 
in  arriving  at  the  town  or  distant  city  in  which  lay 
my  business,  was  to  go  to  the  post-office,  and  I  rarely 
failed  to  find  that  she  was  awaiting  me  there  in  the 
form  of  a  letter  in  her  clear,  round  hand,  —  a  letter 
so  sensible  and  precisely  what  I  was  craving  for  that 
it  was  only  less  to  me  than  herself. 

For  Eachel  has  a  singularly  clear  mind,  and  she 
saw  her  duty  almost  from  the  first.  She  had  always 
been  in  the  habit  of  having  somebody  in  charge.  I 
made  it  plain  to  her  that  I  needed  her  more  than  Per 
sis  did.  Moreover,  I  must  have  assumed  things  in  a 

28 


434  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

way  too  ardent  for  a  kind-hearted  girl  like  her  to  re 
sist. 

"  You  are  the  first  woman  I  ever  loved,  the  one 
woman  I  ever  can  love,"  I  told  her. 

She  knew  me,  and  knew  it  was  the  simple  fact, 
knew  that  I  needed  her  more  even  than  her  poor  old 
father  had  done;  and  what  else  could  she  do  but 
begin  to  love  one  who  would  be  so  dependent  upon 
her  ?  Yes,  dependent !  Not  for  what  we  call  knowl 
edge,  but  there  are  things  I  need  infinitely  more  than 
I  do  knowledge !  Even  in  my  own  life-long  line  of 
things  she  was  of  great  help  to  me. 

"  Persis  likes  my  writings,"  I  told  her  one  day,  not 
long  before  going  with  them  to  Ocklawahaw ;  "  but 
there  is  vast  difference  between  me  and  my  books, 
and  it  is  me  you  love !  Persis  praises  me,  and  sin 
cerely  too ;  but  you  detect  and  tell  me  of  my  faults,  — 
faults  of  matter,  faults  of  manner,  accursed  faults  in 
the  very  bone  and  blood.  You  are  as  quick  to  see 
them  as  you  are  to  notice  places  in  a  table-cloth 
which  need  mending." 

"  Yes,  I  know  how  to  mend,"  she  laughed. 

"I  wouldn't  have  loved  you,"  I  said,  "if  I  had 
not  known  how  much  I  needed  you.  Never  fear,  I 
intend  to  be  a  good  boy  and  mind  you,"  for  which 
she  rewarded  me  —  we  had  got  that  far  along  —  with 
a  kiss ;  adding,  before  the  sweetness  was  departed,  — 

"  Yes,  I  intend  to  see  that  you  do  ! " 

"  It  would  never  do  for  people  to  know,"  I  began, 
"  how  very  much  you  are  to  me." 

"  There  is  no  fear  of  that.     They  will  not  know  it 


CERTAINTY  ITSELF.  435 

from  me"  she  smiled.  "And  you  do  not  need  me 
except  to  correct,  now  and  then,  the  little  things.  I 
appreciate  you  more  than  you  think."  And  her  eyes, 
fixed  tenderly  yet  proudly  in  mine,  praised  me  so 
that  I  felt  happier  than  if  an  opera-house  crowded 
to  the  dome  were  applauding  me.  The  breeze,  strong 
and  steady,  which  bears  a  ship  along,  is  not  a  more 
practical  force  than  to  me  is  Eachel.  Whatever  I 
am  attempting  to  do  by  the  press  or  on  the  platform, 
although  I  may  not  get  an  idea  from  her,  yet  am 
I  upheld  and  borne  along  by  my  unceasing  sense  of 
her  loving  approval. 

"  There  is  the  matter  of  money,"  I  said  to  Eachel 
from  almost  the  beginning  of  our  affection.  I  men 
tioned  it  ruefully,  and  she  understood  and  commenced 
to  laugh. 

"  I  know."  She  nodded  a  mother's  head  at  what  she 
was  too  well  aware  of. 

"  But  I  always  feel  as  if — " 

"  You  had  millions.     I  understand." 

"  Because  we  were  originally  created,"  I  argued, 
"  to  have  everything  as  abundantly  as  we  do  the 
light,  the  air.  After  death  we  shall,  and  eternally, 
have  everything  heart  can  wish  in  infinite  measure. 
Meanwhile  I  can't  adjust  myself  to  anything  else." 

It  was  remarkable  how  wonderfully  Kachel  im 
proved  under  the  influence  of  our  mutual  affection. 
It  was  to  her  what  to  Persis  was  her  love  for  Ross 
and  her  passion  for  study.  Moreover,  I  am  sure  that 
Rachel,  for  my  sake,  was  more  of  a  student  than  she 
would  otherwise  have  been. 


436  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

But  we  kept  our  secret.  As  I  told  her  from  the 
beginning,  I  was  too  poor  to  marry  as  yet.  Nor  did 
we  have,  as  the  time  rolled  by,  the  remotest  idea 
when  we  would  be  able.  All  along  I  felt  like  a  hypo 
crite  of  the  blackest  dye,  when  with  good  Mrs.  Trent 
especially.  It  was  sorely  against  my  nature  not  to 
let  her  into  our  secret,  but  it  was  small  proof  of 
my  strength  to  hold  my  tongue,  seeing  that  I  had 
passed  under  the  influence  of  a  woman  who  influenced 
me  yet  more.  Neither  Mary  nor  Martha  Washington 
would  have  revealed  a  state  secret,  and  Rachel,  for  her 
sake  as  for  mine,  held  ours  as  something  sacred. 

"There  is  plenty  of  time  in  which  to  let  them 
know.  And  it  is  our  matter,"  she  remarked,  and 
controlled  me  in  this  as  in  everything  else.  Which 
confession  I  would  be  ashamed  to  make  if  I  did  not 
know  how  greatly  I  need  to  be  controlled. 

"  There  are  things,"  she  was  pleased  to  say  to  me 
one  day,  "  which  you  can  do  at  all  only  by  doing  them 
alone.  I  cannot  make  a  suggestion  as  to  them.  For 
me  to  intrude  then  would  be  worse  than  if  you  were 
to  come  —  when  we  go  to  housekeeping  —  into  the 
kitchen  and  pry  into  oven  and  stewpan.  I  am  proud 
of  you,  dear,  and  I  hope  I  know  when  to  be  silent 
and  to  leave  you  to  yourself." 

From  almost  the  hour  of  falling  in  love  with  Rachel 
every  lesser  good  began  to  come  to  me  as  naturally  as 
could  be.  I  had  more  occupation  than  ever  in  my 
profession ;  better  paid  because,  I  dare  say,  I  worked 
better.  I  was  able  to  save  more  money,  having  now 
something  to  save  it  for.  For  years  I  had  tried  in 


CERTAINTY  ITSELF.  437 

vain  to  dispose  of  my  plantation,  and  the  day  came 
when,  and  without  any  effort  on  my  part,  I  sold 
it,  and  for  much  more  than  I  had  hoped.  "  It  is  your 
doing,"  I  told  Kachel,  although  how  she  did  it  I  could 
not  have  explained. 

With  all  our  care  it  did  leak  out  at  last,  soon  after 
Eoss  left  us,  —  through  me,  it  is  scarce  necessary  I 
should  say, — how  things  were.  What  followed  I  dare 
not  describe,  save  that  it  was  so  entirely  natural  that 
Kachel  and  I  should  love  each  other  that  every  one, 
even  Mr.  Adair,  was  amazed  that  he  or  she  had  not 
thought  of  it  before. 


438  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

ASSURANCE. 

TT  was  this  which  made  it  easier  for  me  to  accom- 
•*•  pany  Persia  and  Rachel  to  Ocklawahaw.  What 
befell  after  we  arrived  there  I  have  already  related,  — 
our  drive,  our  finding  Ross  by  the  wayside  wounded, 
our  bringing  him  to  the  house.  As  soon  as  possible  a 
surgeon  was  summoned  from  the  nearest  military 
Post.  The  mother  of  Ross  prohibited  her  husband 
and  children  from  showing  themselves,  and  assisted  — 
her  hair  about  her  shoulders  —  in  the  nursing,  Rachel 
taking  the  general  control,  and  Persis  remaining  in 
tearless  misery. 

The  breast  of  the  wounded  man  was  dreadfully 
torn,  so  much  so  that  the  surgeon  could  not  under 
stand  it  until  I  rode  out,  within  an  hour  of  his  com 
ing,  and  brought  in  the  gun  which  had  done  the 
mischief.  It  was  a  short  double-barrelled  shot-gun, 
such  as  I  had  not  seen  since  my  childhood,  —  a  cheap 
toy  at  best,  and  rusty  from  long  disuse.  Both  barrels 
seemed  to  have  gone  off  at  once,  and  the  discharge 
had  burst  them  both,  making  wounds  not  deep  but 
wide-spread.  From  the  first  the  surgeon  had  slight 
hope  of  saving  my  friend,  and  he  took  me  aside  and 
told  me  so.  As  soon  as  I  could,  I  told  Rachel,  and 


ASSURANCE.  439 

was  surprised  at  the  calmness  with  which  she  took 
the  news.  "  For  it  will  be  the  death  of  Persia,"  I 
went  on  to  say  to  Eachel,  who  was  scraping  lint  upon 
a  table  in  the  kitchen  as  we  talked. 

"  I  do  not  think  so,"  she  said.  "  If  Ross  dies  she 
may  sink  for  a  time  into  a  stupor,  but  she  has  too 
much  strength  to  die.  You  have  no  idea,  dear," 
Eachel  whispered,  "  what  hidden  vigor  she  has,  what 
will.  Yet  I  would  almost  rather  she  should  if  Ross 
is  to  die.  I  dare  not  think  what,  in  that  case,  if  she 
survives,  she  may  come  to  be." 

"  I  do  not  understand,"  I  said. 

"  Because  you  have  never  known  her  as  I  do.  If," 
Rachel  said,  "  she  regains  her  strength,  unless  Heaven 
takes  that  way  to  break  her  down,  she  will  become 
a  bitter,  heartless  woman.  I  dread  to  see  her  go 
back  to  the  city,  go  back  to  her  studies,  go  back  to  be 
the  woman  she  may  become.  I  love  Persis,"  and  the 
tears  of  Rachel  began  again  to  fall,  "  but,  knowing  her 
as  I  do,  I  would  rather  she  should  die !  You  think 
you  know  people ;  you  have  no  idea,"  and  she  ceased 
from  her  work  to  look  up  at  me,  "  how  bitter,  how 
miserable,  how  desperate  for  evil,  Persis  may  become. 

"But  I  do  not  think,"  Rachel  whispered  to  me, 
"  that  doctors  know  everything.  Not  even  Dr.  Trent. 
Ross  is  very  strong.  He  has  been  terribly  shaken, 
he  is  dreadfully  wounded,  but  —  Guernsey,  dear," 
Rachel  said,  her  eyes  in  mine  again,  "  Persis  and 
Ross  are  other  people  than  either  you  or  I.  They 
are  like  iron,  —  like  iron,"  Rachel  said,  "  which  God 
can  do  great  things  with  if  he  wants  to." 


440  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

"And  passes  them  through  fierce  suffering  to  fit 
them  for  it,"  I  thought,  for  Kachel  had  stolen  back  to 
the  wounded  man. 

After  a  while  Mrs.  Clarke  went  home  to  see  to 
her  baby.  The  surgeon  had  ridden  all  night,  and, 
having  done  what  he  could  for  the  present,  was  try 
ing  to  get  a  nap  in  a  back  room.  Kachel  rested  for 
the  moment  in  a  chair  by  the  window.  Her  hands 
were  lying  in  each  other  upon  her  lap,  and,  dressed  in 
some  brown  material,  having  on  a  white  apron,  she 
looked  in  such  perfect  health,  was  so  fair  and  yet  so 
rosy,  was  so  fresh  and  strong  and  sweet,  that,  not  hav 
ing  anything  I  could  do  for  Ross  at  the  instant,  I  could 
not  help  saying  to  her  with  my  eyes,  "  If  you  had  upon 
your  head  the  fly-away  cap  of  a  Sister  of  Charity,  a 
child  would  know  that  you  were  the  Superior  of  the 
order  throughout  the  world ;  that  is,  until  somebody 
put  a  crown  upon  your  head  instead,  and  then  they 
would  see  that  you  were  born  a  queen." 

But  she  shook  her  head  at  me,  and  I  too  looked  at 
Persis.  The  poor  thing  was  seated  on  the  floor  by 
the  side  of  the  low  lounge  upon  which  Ross  lay.  Sur 
geons  care  little  for  the  proprieties  at  such  times,  and 
he  had  allowed  her  to  remain  there  through  his  exam 
ination  and  dressing  of  his  lacerated  breast.  The 
more  so  as  she  seemed  to  be  as  quiet  and  as  immov 
able  as  if  carved  from  stone.  She  had  lost  a  shoe  in 
her  leap  from  the  wagon,  and  her  stocking,  stained 
with  the  red  mire  of  the  creek,  showed  from  under 
the  skirts  of  her  dress  still  damp  from  the  water. 

Her  lap  and  bosom  were  spotted  with  blood  where 


ASSURANCE.  441 

the  head  of  her  lover  had  lain ;  for,  unless  we  had  torn 
her  away  by  force,  it  was  impossible  to  remove  her, — 
not  even  Rachel  had  that  influence  over  her.  I  think 
she  was  conscious  of  nothing  but  Ross.  She  had  driven 
him  off  from  her  by  her  weakness  when  she  last  saw 
him  ;  nothing  should  part  them  now  !  Her  face  was 
set  and  haggard,  her  eyes  dry ;  there  was  something 
almost  of  the  wolf  in  the  watch  she  kept  over  him. 
"  No,  no,  it  does  not  do,"  I  thought,  "  for  a  young  girl 
to  stretch  herself  upon  the  rack  of  intense  effort  as 
she  has  done.  It  is  a  devilish  fanaticism.  Whether 
it  be  from  love  for  any  man,  or  from  love  for  knowl 
edge,  it  is  murder.  Whatever  makes  a  Catherine  de 
Medici,  a  Brinvilliers,  a  Messalina,  a  Madame  Kru- 
dener,  is  equally  wrong.  Accursed  be  excess  whether 
it  be  in  drink,  in  dress,  in  study,  or  religion  !  From 
Bacchantes  of  every  sort,  from  Maenads  of  all  kinds, 
good  Lord,  deliver  us  ! "  And  I  let  my  eyes  rest 
with  fresh  satisfaction  upon  the  peaceful  aspect  of 
Eachel. 

None  the  less  I  saw  some  excuse  for  Persia  in 
Ross  lying  upon  his  back,  his  breast  swathed  in  clean 
bandages.  He  had  been  fully  conscious  while  the 
surgeon  was  at  work  upon  him;  his  eyes  were  closed 
now,  and  we  knew  by  the  involuntary  twitches  about 
the  lids  and  beneath  the  bearded  lips  that  he  was 
enduring  mortal  anguish.  Not  a  groan,  not  a  mur 
mur,  escaped  him.  Persis  had  not  kissed  him  since 
he  came  to  himself;  but  she  had  held  his  hand  in 
hers,  and  waited  the  will  of  this  her  lord  as  to  whether 
he  would  take  her  or  not,  as  to  whether  he  lived  or 


442  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

chose  to  die.  Ah  me !  how  have  I  failed  in  trying 
to  tell  in  what  sense  this  friend  of  mine  was  unlike 
ordinary  men  !  Men  may  be  but  duplicates  of  each 
other,  as  much  so  as  silver  dollars;  but  Koss  was 
fresh,  at  least,  from  the  mint.  Not  an  edge  or  a  line 
was  dulled,  in  face  as  in  accents,  in  bearing  as  in 
manner,  in  silence  as  in  speech,  in  anger  as  in  love ; 
he  was  simple,  sincere,  frank.  Never  opening  his  lips 
about  it  to  any  but  me,  he  lied  to  himself  in  trying 
to  assume  that  he  was,  at  last,  but  of  the  best  breed 
of  animals  ;  but,  having  got  into  the  swamp  of  such  a 
notion,  he  had  persisted  in  it  to  the  end.  For  Persis 
was  the  one  appointed  to  lead  him  up  and  out  of  that 
bog ;  and  Persis,  Heaven  help  her !  had  tried  to  fit 
herself  for  him  by  perfecting  herself  in  mathematics 
and  metaphysics ;  in  the  languages,  music,  and  the 
study  of  the  Aryan  religions  ! 

Ross  opened  his  eyes  at  this  moment.  Rachel  came 
and  stood  beside  me.  As  he  looked  at  us,  a  sudden 
surprise  dawned  in  his  steady  eyes  like  a  sunrise,  a 
sullen  film  rolled  away  from  them,  he  understood 
so  well  that  he  almost  laughed.  Persis  glanced  up 
at  us,  then  her  eyes  returned  to  his  bronzed  and 
steadfast  face,  which  had  already  yielded  to  her  as  it 
had  not  done  to  disappointment  and  deadly  wounds. 
His  hand  closed  on  hers,  —  closed  so  hard  that  there 
was  the  wincing  in  her  lips  of  pain,  while  her  eyes 
grew  brighter.  The  surgeon  had  forbidden  him  to 
speak,  but  I  answered  what  I  saw  in  his  eyes. 

"  Did  n't  you  know  that  ?  Why,  man,  I  have  been 
in  love  with  Rachel "  —  here  I  kissed  her  —  "  ever 


ASSURANCE,  443 

since" — and  I  was  defeated  in  trying  to  kiss  her 
again — "I  first  knew  her."  Purely  for  the  purpose 
of  having  him  understand  beyond  doubt,  I  would 
have  illustrated  my  meaning  still  further  if  Rachel  had 
not  put  me  away  from  her,  but  very  gently,  laughing 
and  blushing.  I  was  rejoiced  at  the  new  gladness 
in  the  face  of  Ross  and  Persis.  But  he  was  asking 
me  something  more,  his  lips  were  helping  his  eyes 
to  frame  it.  I  did  not  understand.  Rachel  did,  and 
whispered  to  me. 

"  Married  ? "  I  replied.  "  Of  course  we  are  mar 
ried  !  We  were  married  before  we  left  the  city,  a 
month  ago."  Whereupon  Rachel  was  so  intent  upon 
helping  me  make  Ross  understand,  that  she  put  her 
arm  about  her  husband's  neck,  and  her  head  upon  my 
shoulder,  looking  down  upon  the  wounded  man  with 
eyes  serene  and  satisfied,  adding  a  little  kiss  there 
after  by  way  of  postscript. 

How  could  it  fail  to  be  infectious  !  Ross  turned 
his  face  toward  Persis  ;  his  eyes  half  entreated,  wholly 
commanded  her.  As  she  lifted  herself  to  kiss  him, 
Rachel  and  I  drew  away ;  but  when  we  saw  that  the 
arms  of  Persis  were  about  Ross,  that  she  was  weeping 
with  the  sudden  letting  loose  of  her  long-suppressed 
tears,  Rachel,  crying  as  heartily  as  she,  had  to  inter 
pose,  very  firmly  too.  Ross  was  not  to  falsify  her 
hopes  of  recovery  by  being  agitated  in  that  way. 

There  was  such  a  look  in  his  eyes  when,  at  last, 
I  stood  over  him  again,  Persis  weeping  quietly,  hum 
bly,  by  his  side,  that  I  could  not  but  say,  "  Yes,  old 
fellow,  there  are  certainties  in  this  whirlwind  of 


444  BLESSED  SAINT  CERTAINTY. 

dust  we  call  a  world.  There  are  certainties  of  evil, 
absolute  and  most  terrible  certainties,  if  we  go  or 
allow  ourselves  to  drift  downward.  And  there  are 
certainties,  divine  certainties,  if  we  will  but  climb  by 
them  upward.  I  can  put  them  all  in  one  word, 
Boss,"  for  I  felt,  as  well  as  saw,  that  he  was  listening 
to  me  ;  "  the  supreme  certainty  is  —  "  And  with  a 
happy  face  I  threw  my  hand  upward.  "  Of  all  the 
many  certainties  I  know,  that  is  the  nearest  to  us, 
the  easiest  for  us  to  accept  and  rest  upon ! 

"  And  there  are  lesser  certainties,"  I  added,  after  a 
while,  "  all  along.  The  old  order  of  things  is  passing 
away.  Many  things  outside  the  South,  things  you 
and  I  detest,  are  as  dead  as  negro  slavery.  They 
are  already  struck  through  and  through  by  the  arrows 
of  Heaven,  by  the  sharp  certainties  of  the  almighty 
Christ,  which  always  hit  and  kill.  We  are  both 
young  as  yet.  Both  of  us  have  served  a  severe  ap 
prenticeship.  Each  in  his  own  way,  we  will  have 
as  much  to  do  as  we  know  how ;  yes,  and  we  will 
pocket  the  rewards  of  it,  too  ! " 

I  spoke  as  I  felt,  soberly,  gravely.  Never  before 
had  I  been  as  conscious  of  strength.  It  was  the 
entire  weight,  serene  force,  priceless  value  of  my  wife, 
added  to  me.  "  Persis,  Rachel,"  I  laughed,  "  are  cer 
tainties  to  us,  ab-so-lute  certainties.  They  will  help 
us  through  life.  Beyond  it  are  the  higher  certainties 
into  which  they  and  we  and  all  things  shall  come  to 
be, —  blessed  and  eternal  certainties  !  Why  should  you 
and  I  spend  our  life  in  whirling  like  bats,  half  the 
time  in,  half  the  time  out  of,  the  caves  of  darkness 


ASSURANCE.  445 

and  all  uncertainty  ? "  People  are  very  quiet  when 
speaking  of  or  hearing  about  that  which,  at  last,  no 
one  can  deny.  "  Why,"  I  urged,  "  should  we  not  set 
tle  down  upon  the  primeval  rock  of  what,  in  our  deep 
est  self,  we  know  to  be  true,  —  settle  down  upon  it 
both  to  rest  and  to  be  firm-footed  for  hard  work  ? " 
And  a  peace  fell  upon  us  as  when  head  and  heart,  as 
when  lover  and  the  one  beloved,  are  at  one. 

There  was  peace  even  after  the  surgeon  had  made 
another  examination.  His  trade  lay  in  wounds  as 
that  of  a  florist  does  in  flowers,  and  he  assured  me 
as  coolly  as  could  be  that  my  friend  could  not  get  up 
from  his  hurts.  I  am  sure  /  know  nothing  about  it, 
but  Rachel  says  that  Ross  will  recover.  How  can  I 
tell  which  knows  best  ?  Possibly  I  have  too  much 
faith  in  my  wife,  love  and  faith  so  cling  together. 
We  will  see. 


THE  END. 


Cambridge :  Electrotyped  and  Primed  by  John  Wilson  &  Son. 


THREE    NEW    NOVELS 

BY  THREE  OF  THE   MOST   POPULAR   "  NO   NAME  "   AUTHORS. 


I. 

THE  HEAD   OF  MEDUSA.     By  GEORGE  FLEMING,  author 
of  "Kismet"  and  "Mirage." 

II. 

BY    THE    TIBER.      By   the    author   of    "  Signor    Monaldini's 
Niece." 

III. 

BLESSED    SAINT    CERTAINTY.      By  the   author  of  "His 
Majesty,  Myself." 


ROBERTS   BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 
Boston. 


